Industrial Relocation Policy and Heterogeneous Plants Sorted by Productivity: Evidence from Japan

In an economic geography model with firm heterogeneity, Baldwin and Okubo (2006) show that regional policies for promoting periphery development attract low-productivity firms and adversely affect the productivity gap within a country. This paper empirically examines their theoretical prediction by using plant-level data during active relocation policies in Japan. Our estimation results from plant-level regressions and propensity-score matching that are generally consistent with the theory. Compared to other regions, those targeted by policies, especially by industrial relocation subsidy programs, tend to have low-productivity plants.