第137回「制度と組織の経済学」研究会 (共催：IPP研究会）

第137回「制度と組織の経済学」研究会 (共催：IPP研究会）

日時：2021年6月18日（金）13:30 ～ 15:00（日本時間）
方法：オンラインにて開催 (申込後にZoomの情報をお送りします。)
申込：rmikami@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp 東京大学社会科学研究所 三上様宛

Presenter:
Hirokazu Ishise , Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University （大阪大学 石瀬寛和）

Title:
"Quality, Productivity, and Survival: Evidence from the Japan's Silk-reeling Industry during the Interwar Period (Very preliminary) "

Abstract:
Does producing high-quality goods sacrifice the productivity of their production?  If there is a trade-off between high quality and high productivity, which one is more important for a plant's success?  To what extent does the price of goods reflect the quality of the goods?  The quality of goods is theoretically studied, but empirically not due to the measurement difficulty.  I analyze the relationship among quality of goods, price, productivity, exporting status, and the plant's survival probability in the context of Japan's silk-reeling industry during the interwar period.  The choice of the industry has attractive features: the production process is simply turning the main input, cocoon, into the single-output, raw silk; both inputs and output markets are highly competitive so that the endogenous markup is not a concern; and most importantly, the quality of raw silk is checked by the national inspection center and reported in the data.  At this stage, I find that (1) the price reflects quality, and (2) plants producing high-quality silk tend to have high productivity.