Markup dynamics and productivity in selected markets
production function, productivity, markup, north american airlines, steel industry in Brazil, sensitivity analysis, Lasso estimator
The thesis is composed by three independent papers, which share the common objective of studying the dynamics of productivity and markups over time for selected industries, in addition to discussing the procedures for estimating the production function. The first paper analyses the sensitivity of estimated production function coefficients to the choice of different polynomial specifications in non-parametric estimations, notably in the first stage of the methodology. Furthermore, we study approaches to minimize this instability. One of the investigated approaches is the use of the Lasso estimator in the first stage. The second paper investigates the dynamics of productivity and markups of North American airline companies from 1995 to 2019. Several challenges were faced in estimating the production function, such as product definition (RPM or ASM), choices of explanatory variables and appropriate instruments. Finally, the third article focuses on the Brazilian steel industry in the 1990s, a period marked by intense restructuring of the sector. This period is characterized by the privatization of the largest companies, administrative rationalization and subsequent business consolidation, in a context of increasing openness to international trade. The use of production function and markup estimation methodologies can offer insights into these events.