Integration and Productivity: Satellite-Tracked Evidence

Gabriel Natividad
2014 Management science  
This paper introduces satellite-tracked real-time data from a large fishing firm managing its vertically, horizontally, and geographically linked ships to study the causal impact of integration on total factor productivity (TFP) after the firm acquired its vertically unintegrated contractual fish suppliers. TFP increased 16% among newly integrated ships, while it did not vary for already owned ships. Some classic mechanisms such as increased effort due to monitoring do not systematically
more » ... TFP gains under integration, while evidence on hold-up threat alleviation is mixed. Importantly, enhanced knowledge transfer and hierarchical authority enacting productivity-improving operational practices among newly integrated ships are more likely explanations of the results. * I am indebted to the Firm, whose identity is suppressed here, for access to its data and for unrestricted conversations and field research. I also thank the Ministry of Production of Peru for access to data. , 2008, How does outsourcing affect performance dynamics? Evidence from the automobile industry, Management Science 54, 1963Science 54, -1979 Palmer, Craig, 1991, Kin-selection, reciprocal altruism, and information sharing among Maine lobstermen, Ethology and Sociobiology 12, 221-235. Pérez-González, Francisco, 2005, The impact of acquiring control on productivity, Manuscript.
doi:10.1287/mnsc.2013.1833 fatcat:4yrx5rxt7bdoni42dd6aiant2i