Recent work in I.O. has emphasized the importance of firm- and plant-level heterogeneity in total factor productivity. Jensen and McGuckin (1996) argue that the major empirical regularity in studies of firm or establishment level productivity is heterogeneity within sectors and across plant...

This paper applies the insights of the literature on idiosyncratic shocks to inividual labor productivity to the dynamics of plant-level total factor productivity. Recent work in I.O. has emphasized the importance of firm- and plant-level heterogeneity in total factor productivity. Most of the...

Using a unique database that covers the entire U.S. manufacturing sector from 1976 until 1999, we estimate plant-level total factor productivity for a large number of plants. We characterize time series properties of plant-level idiosyncratic shocks to productivity, taking into account aggregate...