American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Vertical Integration and Input Flows
American Economic Review
vol. 104,
no. 4, April 2014
(pp. 1120–48)
Abstract
We use broad-based yet detailed data from the economy's goods-producing sectors to investigate firms' ownership of production chains. It does not appear that vertical ownership is primarily used to facilitate transfers of goods along the production chain, as is often presumed: roughly one-half of upstream establishments report no shipments to downstream establishments within the same firm. We propose an alternative explanation for vertical ownership, namely that it promotes efficient intrafirm transfers of intangible inputs. We show evidence consistent with this hypothesis, including the fact that, after a change of ownership, an acquired establishment begins to resemble the acquiring firm along multiple dimensions.Citation
Atalay, Enghin, Ali Hortaçsu, and Chad Syverson. 2014. "Vertical Integration and Input Flows." American Economic Review, 104 (4): 1120–48. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.4.1120Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G32 Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
- G34 Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Voting; Proxy Contests; Corporate Governance
- L14 Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation; Networks
- L22 Firm Organization and Market Structure
- L60 Industry Studies: Manufacturing: General
- M11 Production Management