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Plant Scale and Exchange‐Rate‐Induced Productivity Growth
Author(s) -
Fung Loretta,
Baggs Jen,
Beaulieu Eugene
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of economics and management strategy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.672
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1530-9134
pISSN - 1058-6407
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-9134.2011.00311.x
Subject(s) - productivity , scale (ratio) , production (economics) , exchange rate , currency , economics , scale effects , affect (linguistics) , monetary economics , macroeconomics , geography , psychology , cartography , communication
This paper examines the impact of exchange rate movements on firm‐level productivity through changes in the scale of production. We employ plant‐level data to examine whether, and in what direction, exchange rate movements affect the scale of production, and how these changes in scale influence productivity. The paper finds that a real appreciation of the domestic currency reduces shipments and this negative effect is larger for exporters (both domestic and foreign owned). The paper also finds evidence that the appreciation‐induced reduction of scale negatively affects productivity at the plant level. This scale effect more than offsets any potential gains from the appreciation‐induced reduction in the price of imported inputs.