Concentración de la industria manufacturera en Colombia, 2001-2010

This paper presents the results of the extent of concentration for 60 industrial activities in Colombia; each activity was categorized according to the level of concentration exhibited: high, moderate and low. The same analysis was made computing the concentration index for 19 departments plus Bogota, which gave broader picture of the industrial concentration level in Colombia. Finally, the statistical F test was used to determine the relative stability of the concentration index. The data for this research comes from the Colombian Manufacturing Annual Survey (EAM by its acronym in Spanish), disaggregated up to three digits and addressed by three dimensions of analysis: i) the number of employees, ii) the number of firms, and iii) the added value. The results show that 73% of the whole manufacturing industry in the country exhibits high levels of concentration, while the remaining 27% is distributed in equal proportions between moderate and low levels of concentration. The analysis by department shows that 45% of them have a high industrial concentration level, 25% moderate and 30% low. While the city of Bogota showed the lowest level of concentration, the department of Cesar showed the highest level. According to the F test results, the concentration level found in 2001 was statistically the same in 2010 for almost all the activities analyzed. The same evidence was found when the index was computed by departments and the city of Bogota. These results indicate that the extent of concentration in the Colombian manufacturing industry has remained practically static between 2001 and 2010.