Productivity and misallocation of energy resources: Evidence from Korea’s manufacturing Sector

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of allocative efficiency of energy resources with respect to total factor productivity (TFP) in the Korean manufacturing sector. Using firm-level data for Korea, we extend the framework of Hsieh and Klenow (2009) to measure allocative inefficiency of energy markets as a function of energy price distortions. Our results indicate that between the years 2000 and 2014, intra-industry misallocation has increased. With respect to energy resources, this is truer in the low-oil-price periods than in other periods. An improvement in allocative efficiency could be attained by equalizing total factor revenue productivity across firms within an industry. In reallocating capital, labor, and energy resources, hypothetical TFP increases of 51.3 % and 71.7 % above actual levels in 2000 and 2014, respectively, could have been achieved. The evolution of firm productivity has been shaped by energy (electricity and fuel) market distortion and capital market distortion. Our evidence suggests that government (energy) price intervention is likely to have played an important role in productivity loss and in allocative inefficiency observed in energy markets.