Author
Chang-Tai Hsieh
Other affiliations: University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, National Bureau of Economic Research
Bio: Chang-Tai Hsieh is an academic researcher from University of Chicago. The author has contributed to research in topics: Productivity & Investment (macroeconomics). The author has an hindex of 38, co-authored 95 publications receiving 9299 citations. Previous affiliations of Chang-Tai Hsieh include University of California, Berkeley & Princeton University.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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TL;DR: This paper measured sizable gaps in marginal products of labor and capital across plants within narrowly defined industries in China and India compared with the United States, and calculated manufacturing TFP gains of 30%-50% in China, and 40%-60% in India.
Abstract: Resource misallocation can lower aggregate total factor productivity (TFP).We
use microdata on manufacturing establishments to quantify the potential extent
of misallocation in China and India versus the United States. We measure sizable
gaps in marginal products of labor and capital across plants within narrowly
defined industries in China and India compared with the United States. When
capital and labor are hypothetically reallocated to equalize marginal products to
the extent observed in the United States, we calculate manufacturing TFP gains
of 30%–50% in China and 40%–60% in India.
1,995 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: This article used micro data on manufacturing establishments to quantify the potential extent of misallocation in China and India compared to the U.S. They measured sizable gaps in marginal products of labor and capital across plants within narrowly-defined industries in both countries.
Abstract: Resource misallocation can lower aggregate total factor productivity (TFP). We use micro data on manufacturing establishments to quantify the potential extent of misallocation in China and India compared to the U.S. Compared to the U.S., we measure sizable gaps in marginal products of labor and capital across plants within narrowly-defined industries in China and India. When capital and labor are hypothetically reallocated to equalize marginal products to the extent observed in the U.S., we calculate manufacturing TFP gains of 30-50% in China and 40-60% in India.
1,234 citations
TL;DR: This article found no evidence that choice improved average educational outcomes as measured by test scores, repetition rates, and years of schooling, and found evidence that the voucher program led to increased sorting, as the bbestQ public school students left for the private sector.
655 citations
TL;DR: This paper used micro data on manufacturing establishments to quantify the potential extent of misallocation in China and India compared to the U.S. They measured sizable gaps in marginal products of labor and capital across plants within narrowly-defined industries in both countries.
Abstract: Resource misallocation can lower aggregate total factor productivity (TFP). We use micro data on manufacturing establishments to quantify the potential extent of misallocation in China and India compared to the U.S. Compared to the U.S., we measure sizable gaps in marginal products of labor and capital across plants within narrowly-defined industries in China and India. When capital and labor are hypothetically reallocated to equalize marginal products to the extent observed in the U.S., we calculate manufacturing TFP gains of 30-50% in China and 40-60% in India.
579 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: This article measured the macroeconomic consequences of this convergence through the prism of a Roy model of occupational choice in which women and blacks face frictions in the labor market and in the accumulation of human capital.
Abstract: Over the last 50 years, there has been a remarkable convergence in the occupational distribution between white men, women, and blacks. We measure the macroeconomic consequences of this convergence through the prism of a Roy model of occupational choice in which women and blacks face frictions in the labor market and in the accumulation of human capital. The changing frictions implied by the observed occupational convergence account for 15 to 20 percent of growth in aggregate output per worker since 1960.
328 citations
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01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The Penn World Table (PWT) as mentioned in this paper has been used to compare real GDP comparisons across countries and over time, and the PWT version 8 will expand on previous versions of PWT in three respects.
Abstract: We describe the theory and practice of real GDP comparisons across countries and over time. Effective with version 8, the Penn World Table (PWT) will be taken over by the University of California, Davis and the University of Groningen, with continued input from Alan Heston at the University of Pennsylvania. Version 8 will expand on previous versions of PWT in three respects. First, it will distinguish real GDP on the expenditure side from real GDP on the output side, which differ by the terms of trade faced by countries. Second, it will distinguish growth rates of GDP based on national accounts data from growth rates that are benchmarked in multiple years to cross-country price data. Third, data on capital stocks will be reintroduced. Some illustrative results from PWT version 8 are discussed, including new results that show how the Penn effect is not emergent but a stable relationship over time.
3,019 citations
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the effect of Chinese import competition between 1990 and 2007 on US local labor markets, exploiting cross-market variation in import exposure stemming from initial diffe cerence to US labor markets.
Abstract: We analyze the effect of rising Chinese import competition between 1990 and 2007 on US local labor markets, exploiting cross-market variation in import exposure stemming from initial diffe...
2,818 citations
TL;DR: The authors surveys and evaluates recent empirical work addressing the question of why businesses differ in their measured productivity levels, and lays out what I see are the major questions that research in the area should address going forward.
Abstract: Economists have shown that large and persistent differences in productivity levels across businesses are ubiquitous. This finding has shaped research agendas in a number of fields, including (but not limited to) macroeconomics, industrial organization, labor, and trade. This paper surveys and evaluates recent empirical work addressing the question of why businesses differ in their measured productivity levels. The causes are manifold, and differ depending on the particular setting. They include elements sourced in production practices -- and therefore over which producers have some direct control, at least in theory -- as well as from producers' external operating environments. After evaluating the current state of knowledge, I lay out what I see are the major questions that research in the area should address going forward. (JEL D24, G31, L11, M10, O30, O47)
2,380 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: The authors argue that the behavior of wages and returns to schooling indicates that technical change has been skill-biased during the past sixty years and that the recent increase in inequality is most likely due to an acceleration in skill bias.
Abstract: This essay discusses the effect of technical change on wage inequality. I argue that the behavior of wages and returns to schooling indicates that technical change has been skill-biased during the past sixty years. Furthermore, the recent increase in inequality is most likely due to an acceleration in skill bias. In contrast to twentieth century developments, most technical change during the nineteenth century appears to be skill-replacing. I suggest that this is because the increased supply of unskilled workers in the English cities made the introduction of these technologies profitable. On the other hand, the twentieth-century has been characterized by skill-biased technical change because the rapid increase in the supply of skilled workers has induced the development of skill-complementary technologies. The recent acceleration in skill bias is in turn likely to have been a response to the acceleration in the supply of skills during the past several decades.
2,378 citations
TL;DR: The Penn World Table (PWT) as discussed by the authors has been used to compare real GDP comparisons across countries and over time, and the PWT version 8 will expand on previous versions of PWT in three respects.
Abstract: We describe the theory and practice of real GDP comparisons across countries and over time. Effective with version 8, the Penn World Table (PWT) will be taken over by the University of California, Davis and the University of Groningen, with continued input from Alan Heston at the University of Pennsylvania. Version 8 will expand on previous versions of PWT in three respects. First, it will distinguish real GDP on the expenditure side from real GDP on the output side, which differ by the terms of trade faced by countries. Second, it will distinguish growth rates of GDP based on national accounts data from growth rates that are benchmarked in multiple years to cross-country price data. Third, data on capital stocks will be reintroduced. Some illustrative results from PWT version 8 are discussed, including new results that show how the Penn effect is not emergent but a stable relationship over time.
2,285 citations