John R. Baldwin

Bio: John R. Baldwin is an academic researcher from Statistics Canada. The author has contributed to research in topics: Productivity & Multifactor productivity. The author has an hindex of 19, co-authored 113 publications receiving 1104 citations. Previous affiliations of John R. Baldwin include Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

Agglomeration economies: microdata panel estimates from canadian manufacturing*

Abstract: This paper identifies the main sources of urban increasing returns, after Marshall. The geographical distance across which externalities flow is also examined. We bring to bear on these questions plant-level data organized in the form of a panel across the years 1989 and 1999. Plant-level production functions are estimated across the Canadian manufacturing sector as a whole and for five broadindustrygroups, eachcharacterizedbythenatureof itsoutput. Thepaneldataovercomeselection bias resulting from unobserved plant-level heterogeneity that is constant over time. A related set of estimates using instrumental variables allay persistent concerns with endogeneity. Results provide strong support for Marshall's claims about the importance of buyer-supplier networks, labor market matching and spillovers. We show that spillovers enhance plant productivity within industries rather than between them and that these spillovers are highly localized.

Technology Use and Industrial Transformation: Empirical Perspectives

Abstract: This study examines technology use in Canada's manufacturing sector and how a set of technology-using manufacturing establishments performed relative to non-users. Data originates from a recent Statistics Canada survey, asking manufacturing firms about their use of 22 advanced manufacturing technologies, and panel data taken from the Census of Manufacturers. Results show that the use of advanced manufacturing technology is widespread, especially in large firms, that multiple-technology use is the norm, and that technologies are generally combined within, as opposed to across, production stages. The technology revolution has been felt more in the area of inspection and communications and less in fabrication and assembly. In terms of performance, technology-using establishments pay higher wages, enjoy higher labor productivity and are gaining market share at the expense of non-users.

Infrastructure Capital: What is it? Where is it? How Much of it is There?

Abstract: This paper focuses on investment in infrastructure in Canada. The size of infrastructure investments relative to other capital stock sets this country apart from most other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. The paper reviews the approaches taken by other researchers to define infrastructure. It then outlines a taxonomy to define those assets that should be considered as infrastructure and that can be used to assess the importance of different types of infrastructure investments. It briefly considers how to define the portion of infrastructure that should be considered ‘public.’ The final two parts of the paper apply the proposed classification system to data on Canada’s capital stock, and ask the following questions: how much infrastructure does Canada have and in which sectors of the economy is this infrastructure located‘ Finally, the paper investigates how Canada’s infrastructure has evolved over the last four decades, both in the commercial and non-commercial sectors, and compares these trends with the pattern that can be found in the United States.

Innovative activity in Canadian food processing establishments: the importance of engineering practices

Abstract: This paper examines the factors contributing to innovative activity in the Canadian food-processing sector. Several factors relating to innovation are considered. Firstly, it focuses not only on the importance of research and development activity but also on advanced business practices used by production and engineering departments. Secondly, it examines the extent to which a larger firm size and less competition serve to stimulate competition - the so-called Schumpeterian hypothesis. Thirdly, the effect of the nationality of a firm on innovation is also investigated. Fourthly, industry effects are examined. The paper finds that business practices are significantly related to the probability that a firm is innovative. This is also the case for R&D. Size effects are significant, particularly for process innovations. Elsewhere, their effect is greatly diminished once business practices are included. Foreign ownership is significant only for process-only innovations. Competition matters, more so for product than for process innovations. Establishments in the "other" food products industry tend to lead the industry average when it comes to innovation, whereas fish product plants tend to lag behind the industry average.

Determinants of Innovative Activity in Canadian Manufacturing Firms: The Role of Intellectual Property Rights

Abstract: This paper examines how several factors contribute to innovative activity in the Canadian manufacturing sector. First, it investigates the extent to which intellectual property right protection stimulates innovation. Second, it examines the contribution that RD but firms and industries that make more intensive use of patents do not tend to produce more innovations. Second, while R&D is important, developing capabilities in other areas, such as technological competency and marketing, is also important. Third, size effects are significant. The largest firms tend to be more innovative. As for competition, intermediate levels of competition are the most conducive to innovation. Fourth, foreign-controlled firms are not significantly more likely to innovate than domestic-controlled firms once differences in competencies have been taken into account. Fifth, the scientific infrastructure provided by university research is a significant determinant of innovation.

Industrial Organization and New Findings on the Turnover and Mobility of Firms

Abstract: This paper surveys a large new literature derived from longitudinal data bases on the populations of firms and establishmnets in a number of countries. It shows the prevasiveness of turnover from entry and exit (high infant mortality of entrants); the entry process shows a good deal of rationality about entrants' chances and the importance of real options for entrants. Mobility and mean-regression processes are pervasive among incumbent firms. This evidence is related to the existing core of industrial organization, derived from equilibrium models, with emphasis on the integration of random processes and purposive behavior. Turnover and mobility are also related to productivity growth and the prevalence of productive inefficiency.

What is the Value of Entrepreneurship? A Review of Recent Research

Abstract: This paper examines to what extent recent empirical evidence can collectively and systematically substantiate the claim that entrepreneurship has important economic value. Hence, a systematic review is provided that answers the question: What is the contribution of entrepreneurs to the economy in comparison to non-entrepreneurs? We study the relative contribution of entrepreneurs to the economy based on four measures that have most widely been studied empirically. Hence, we answer the question: What is the contribution of entrepreneurs to (i) employment generation and dynamics, (ii) innovation, and (iii) productivity and growth, relative to the contributions of the entrepreneurs' counterparts, i.e. the 'control group'? A fourth type of contribution studied is the role of entrepreneurship in increasing individuals' utility levels. Based on 57 recent studies of high quality that contain 87 relevant separate analyses, we conclude that entrepreneurs have a very important - but specific - function in the economy. They engender relatively much employment creation, productivity growth and produce and commercialize high quality innovations. They are more satisfied than employees. More importantly, recent studies show that entrepreneurial firms produce important spillovers that affect regional employment growth rates of all companies in the region in the long run. However, the counterparts cannot be missed either as they account for a relatively high value of GDP, a less volatile and more secure labor market, higher paid jobs and a greater number of innovations and they have a more active role in the adoption of innovations.

Technology and the Pursuit of Economic Growth.

Abstract: Technology's contribution to economic growth and competitiveness has been the subject of vigorous debate in recent years. This book demonstrates the importance of a historical perspective in understanding the role of technological innovation in the economy. The authors examine key episodes and institutions in the development of the U.S. research system and in the development of the research systems of other industrial economies. They argue that the large potential contributions of economics to the understanding of technology and economic growth have been constrained by the narrow theoretical framework employed within neoclassical economies. A richer framework, they believe, will support a more fruitful dialogue among economists, policymakers, and managers on the organization of public and private institutions for innovation. David Mowery is Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy at the School of Business Administration, University of California, Berkeley. Nathan S. Rosenberg is Fairleigh Dickinson Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He is the author of Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics (CUP, 1983).

What is the value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research

Abstract: This article examines to what extent recent empirical evidence can collectively and systematically substantiate the claim that entrepreneurship has important economic value. Hence, a systematic review is provided that answers the question: What is the contribution of entrepreneurs to the economy in comparison to non-entrepreneurs? We study the relative contribution of entrepreneurs to the economy based on four measures that have most widely been studied empirically. Hence, we answer the question: What is the contribution of entrepreneurs to (i) employment generation and dynamics, (ii) innovation, and (iii) productivity and growth, relative to the contributions of the entrepreneurs’ counterparts, i.e., the ‘control group’? A fourth type of contribution studied is the role of entrepreneurship in increasing individuals’ utility levels. Based on 57 recent studies of high quality that contain 87 relevant separate analyses, we conclude that entrepreneurs have a very important—but specific—function in the economy. They engender relatively much employment creation, productivity growth and produce and commercialize high-quality innovations. They are more satisfied than employees. More importantly, recent studies show that entrepreneurial firms produce important spillovers that affect regional employment growth rates of all companies in the region in the long run. However, the counterparts cannot be missed either as they account for a relatively high value of GDP, a less volatile and more secure labor market, higher paid jobs and a greater number of innovations and they have a more active role in the adoption of innovations.