Nature Versus Nurture in the Origins of Highly Productive Businesses: An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Manufacturing Establishments
37 Pages Posted: 9 Sep 2011
Date Written: September 1, 2011
Abstract
This paper investigates the origins of productivity leaders, those that operate close to and help push out the production frontier. Do such businesses emerge as top performers from the very beginning of their lives, for example as the consequence of an outstanding founding idea, technology, or location? Or, at the other extreme, do they appear initially as completely average (or even underperformers) that exhibit gradual improvement as they learn and develop with age? To answer this question we draw upon five decades of U.S. Census of Manufacturing (CM) establishment-level data, tracing the productivity leaders of the most recent CM (2007) back over their observed life spans. We also examine possible industry-level correlates of variation in the extent of nature versus nurture that are suggested by theories of industry dynamics and economic growth.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?
By Lucia Foster, John Haltiwanger, ...
-
Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?
By Lucia Foster, John Haltiwanger, ...
-
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen
-
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By John Van Reenen and Nicholas Bloom
-
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen
-
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen
-
Management Practices Across Firms and Countries
By Nicholas Bloom, Christos Genakos, ...
-
Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance
By Morten Bennedsen, Kasper Meisner Nielsen, ...
-
Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance
By Morten Bennedsen, Kasper Meisner Nielsen, ...