Market Power, Input Costs, and Technology

The research group deals with the empirical analysis of the dynamics and determinants of economic development. Thereby, we recognize that these are individual heterogeneous firms with their specific capabilities to innovate and to efficiently allocate scarce resources that shape patterns at higher level of aggregation (e.g. cause structural change). While following a micro-level approach we aim at adding to the understanding of the actual mechanisms and dynamics in the development of economies as well as for the development of policy instruments. For instance, one of the current research projects deals with the effect of import competition on the productivity and innovating behaviour of firms as well as on the dynamic in and of industries

The research group works closely together with CompNet.

Research Cluster
Productivity and Institutions

Your contact

Dr Matthias Mertens
Dr Matthias Mertens
Mitglied - Department Structural Change and Productivity
Send Message +49 345 7753-707 Personal page

EXTERNAL FUNDING

10.2022 ‐ 09.2024

MULTIMSPROD/MULTIMSPROD AUT

European Commission

Enhancing the Micro Foundation of the Research Output of National Productivity Board (NPBs). Using CompNet and expanding its Micro Data Infrastructure (MDI).

See project page

Professor Javier Miranda, PhD

09.2016 ‐

The Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet)

Funding institutions: European Central Bank (ECB), European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Tinbergen Institute, European Commission.

The Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet) provides a forum for high level research and policy analysis in the areas of competitiveness and productivity. Its main activities include the regular updating of its micro-based competitiveness database for European countries, unprecedented in terms of coverage and cross-country comparability.

Professor Reint E. Gropp, PhD

Refereed Publications

Working Papers

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The Aggregate Effects of the Decline of Disruptive Innovation

Richard Bräuer

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 22, 2023

Abstract

This paper proposes a model that explains both recently documented facts about the decline of disruptive innovation and the decline in productivity growth as the result of large firms trying to monopolize technologies by poaching inventors from disruptive activities. To come to this conclusion, the paper builds an endogenous growth model with inventor labor markets on which firms can interact strategically. To inform this model, I perform an event study of the effect of disruptive inventions on their technology fields using PATSTAT (1980-2010). I document that technology classes without disruption slowly trend towards incrementalism and that after a disruption, more patents get registered and research becomes less incremental.

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Minimum Wages, Productivity, and Reallocation

Mirja Hälbig Matthias Mertens Steffen Müller

in: IZA Discussion Paper, No. 16160, 2023

Abstract

We study the productivity effect of the German national minimum wage by applying administrative firm data. At the firm level, we confirm positive effects on wages and negative employment effects and document higher productivity even net of output price increases. We find higher wages but no employment effects at the level of aggregate industry × region cells. The minimum wage increased aggregate productivity in manufacturing. We do not find that employment reallocation across firms contributed to these aggregate productivity gains, nor do we find improvements in allocative efficiency. Instead, the productivity gains from the minimum wage result from within-firm productivity improvements only.

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Minimum Wages, Productivity, and Reallocation

Mirja Hälbig Matthias Mertens Steffen Müller

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 8, 2023

Abstract

We study the productivity effect of the German national minimum wage by applying administrative firm data. At the firm level, we confirm positive effects on wages and negative employment effects and document higher productivity even net of output price increases. We find higher wages but no employment effects at the level of aggregate industry × region cells. The minimum wage increased aggregate productivity in manufacturing. We do not find that employment reallocation across firms contributed to these aggregate productivity gains, nor do we find improvements in allocative efficiency. Instead, the productivity gains from the minimum wage result from within-firm productivity improvements only.

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Do Larger Firms Exert More Market Power? Markups and Markdowns along the Size Distribution

Matthias Mertens Bernardo Mottironi

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 1, 2023

Abstract

Several models posit a positive cross-sectional correlation between markups and firm size, which characterizes misallocation, factor shares, and gains from trade. Accounting for labor market power in markup estimation, we find instead that larger firms have lower product markups but higher wage markdowns. The negative markup-size correlation turns positive when conditioning on markdowns, suggesting interactions between product and labor market power. Our findings are robust to common criticism (e.g., price bias, non-neutral technology) and hold across 19 European countries. We discuss possible mechanisms and resulting implications, highlighting the importance of studying input and output market power in a unified framework.

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Wirtschaftliche Folgen des Gaspreisanstiegs für die deutsche Industrie

Matthias Mertens Steffen Müller

in: Sachverständigenrat Wirtschaft, No. 4, 2022

Abstract

Diese Analyse nutzt amtliche Mikrodaten für die deutsche Industrie. Auf Ebene fein untergliederter Produkte werden der Verbrauch an Erdgas und der heimische Produktumsatz mit Daten der Vereinten Nationen zu Exporten und Importen verknüpft. Es zeigt sich, dass die 300 Produkte mit dem höchsten Gasverbrauch innerhalb der deutschen Industrie für knapp 90% des Gasverbrauchs der Industrie stehen, dass bei Gaspreiserhöhungen um das Vierfache gegenüber den Jahren 2015-2017 die Kosten für das durchschnittliche Produkt um 12 Cent pro Euro Umsatz steigen und dass ein Produktionsstopp der Produkte, die sowohl überdurchschnittlich gasintensiv sind als auch überdurchschnittlich leicht durch Importe substituiert werden können, 26% des Gesamtgasverbrauchs der Industrie einspart, aber weniger als 3% des Umsatzes der Industrie kostet.

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