8th Annual Conference of CompNet, jointly organized with IMF, EIB, ENRI and IWH, March 18-19 2019, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg

The 8th annual conference of the Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet) was jointly organized with the IMF, the EIB, ENRI and the IWH and took place at the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg.

The objective of the conference was to bring together policymakers and academic researchers for a sound discussion on the role of micro-data in the analysis of the determinants of the development of market power. The presented research has shown that micro-aggregated and firm-level data is fundamental in understanding the drivers of the discussed phenomena. 

The work presented during five sessions faced the main topic of the conference from a broad range of perspectives, providing an excellent and heterogeneous group of works in the field. The works were focused on subjects such as financial constraints and investment, market power in both product and labor markets, globalization and the decline in competition across the world, providing both cross-country and single-country evidence.

Please click here for a short summary of the main points. For more details, please check the comprehensive report of the conference. At the following link you can also find the conference program. Following are the presentations and the materials discussed during the conference.

Session 1: Financial Constraints and Investment

Markups and Productivity under Heterogeneous Financial Frictions
Carlo Altomonte*, Bocconi University, Baffi‐Carefin Centre; Domenico Favoino, Erasmus School of Economics, Tinbergen Institute; Tommaso Sonno, University of Bologna, Baffi‐Carefin Centre, CEP 

Born in Hard Times: Startups and Intangible Capital during the Financial Crisis
Guzman Gonzalez‐Torres, Bank of Italy; Francesco Manaresi*, Bank of Italy; Filippo Scoccianti, Bank of Italy 

Academic panel - Şebnem Kalemli‐Özcan, University of Maryland

Session 2: Cross - Country

Corporate Economic Profits in the Euro Area and the United States: Market Power or Competitive Advantage? 
Vicente Salas, Universidad de Zaragoza; Lucio San Juan*, Banco de España; Javier Vallés*, Banco de España 

Global Declining Competition
Federico J. Diez*, IMF; Jiayue Fan, IMF; Carolina Villegas‐Sanchez, ESADE Business School, Universidad Ramon Llull 

Academic panel - Thomas Philippon, New York University; Gauti Eggertson, Brown University

Key‐note speech – Peter Praet, ECB 

Policy Panel - Chair: Pedro De Lima,EIB
Debora Revoltella, EIB, ENRI, CompNet; Sergei Guriev, EBRD; Romain Duval, IMF; Filippo diMauro, CompNet; Mary Veronica Tovsak‐Pleterski, European Commission

Session 3: One - Country Evidence

Globalization and the Fall of Markups
Jakub Muck*, Narodowy Bank Polski; Michal Gradzewicz, Narodowy Bank Polski 

Markup and Price Dynamics: Linking Micro to Macro
Jan De Loecker*, KU Leuven; Catherine Fuss, NBB; Johannes Van Biesebroeck, KU Leuven 

Market Power in Input Markets: Theory and Evidence from French Manufacturing
Monica Morlacco*, University of Southern California 

Academic panel - Chad Syverson, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business; Ufuk Akcigit, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

Session 4: Macro and Methodological Issues

Misallocation or Mismeasurement?
Cian Ruane*, Stanford University; Mark Bils, University of Rochester and NBER; Pete Klenow,Stanford University and NBER 

Industry Concentration in Europe and North America
Giuseppe Berlingieri, OECD; Sara Calligaris, OECD; Chiara Criscuolo*, OECD; Jonathan Timmis, OECD

Academic panel - Eric Bartelsman, Tinbergen Institute; Dan Andrews, Australian Treasury

Keynote Address - Werner Hoyer, President, EIB 

Session 5: Product and Labor Market Power

Micro‐Mechanisms Behind Declining Labor Shares: Market Power, Production Processes and Global Competition 
Matthias Mertens*, IWH and CompNet

What is the Impact of Increased Business Competition? 
Chiara Maggi*, Northwestern University; Sonia Felix, Banco de Portugal, Nova SBE 

Academic panel - Jan De Loecker, KU Leuven; Jan Svejnar, Columbia University