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BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:cf7cf8dcc1f1c2f461ab2ce09732121b
CATEGORIES:Seminars
CREATED:20190506T102151
SUMMARY:Lunch Seminar: Vittorio Bassi - University of Southern California
DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:\n\nUnderstanding Productivity Dispersion: Evidence on the Role of Mechaniz
 ation from Urban Uganda joint work with Raffaela Muoio, Tommaso Porzio, Rit
 wika Sen and Esau Tugume \n\n\nAbstract: \nWe study the drivers of producti
 vity dispersion across firms in three manufacturing sectors in urban Uganda
 , focusing in particular on the role of mechanization. To do so, we first d
 esign and implement a new representative survey of 1,000 manufacturing firm
 s and their employees, which allows us to collect information on the detail
 s of the entire production process for key products. The data reveal a key 
 role of firm-level mechanization as a statistical predictor of productivity
 : completing production steps with electrically powered machines as opposed
  to manual tools is the strongest predictor of productivity differences acr
 oss firms. We further uncover a very active rental market, with most firms 
 renting machines from other firms in the same sector. Informed by these key
  facts, we propose a simple model that allows us to: i) shed light on the l
 ink between mechanization and productivity, ii) measure distortions in the 
 market for machines, and iii) simulate policy counterfactuals. Finally, we 
 outline potential interventions that are motivated by the predictions of th
 e model, and that we are currently piloting in the field, in preparation fo
 r a large-scale field experiment aimed at increasing productivity through m
 echanization.\n
DTSTAMP:20260403T183749Z
DTSTART:20190528T130000Z
DTEND:20190528T140000Z
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:OPAQUE
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