The Reflection Channel of Shock Transmission in Production Networks

Abstract

This paper studies the general equilibrium effects of industry-specific productivity shock in an economy in which sectors are connected via input-output linkages. My central finding is productivity shocks do not only travel downstream as is standard in the literature, but also trigger demand change at the final consumption industries, which propagates upstream. I label this novel mechanism "reflection channel". Differences of the elasticity of substitution of consumption and production for the final consumption industries drive the demand change. Empirically, the magnitude of the reflection channel is around three times greater than the previously studied downstream channel. When a positive productivity shock reaches a final consumption industry, consumers substitute towards it much more than producers substitute away, increasing the demand of its upstream industries, and vice versa.