Online seminar – Growth and the fragmentation of production

Johannes Boehm, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics at Sciences Po

How much do changes in the fragmentation of production contribute to growth? Using detailed plant-level data on the manufacturing sector in India between 1990 and 2014, we study Smithian growth, the link between greater fragmentation of production and productivity. We propose a measure of a plant’s vertical span, which corresponds roughly to the number of stages in a supply chain that the plant performs in-house; when plants have smaller vertical spans, production is more fragmented. We find that fragmentation increases with development in both the cross-section and time series. Further, within locations at a point in time, larger plants tend to have smaller vertical spans, and increases in sales tend to be associated with decreases in vertical span. We provide evidence that increased size causes specialisation using changes in demand during India’s tariff liberalisation in the 1990s. A model serves to clarify the mechanisms and as a basis for quantitative work.

Speaker bio

Johannes Boehm is Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics at Sciences Po. He is also a Research Affiliate of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, and an Affiliate of the CESifo Research Network.

Johannes works on macroeconomics, international trade, and industrial organisation. He is particularly interested in the determinants of firm productivity and the role that firms play in the process of economic growth.

To join the seminar, register and join the Zoom meeting and enter the meeting ID.

Meeting ID: 880 9681 5173
Password: 130612

The webinar may be recorded and shared on Cambridge Judge Business School’s websites, social media and other channels.