This paper examines the effect of real exchange rate volatility on the intensive margin and the extensive margin of exports. Using highly disaggregated U.S. import data by product and country of origin, and a methodology that takes into account the possible endogeneity of volatility to trade,...

Recent models of trade with firm heterogeneity predict that opening to trade reduces the number of firms, increases the average size of firms, and decreases firms’ markups. This paper uses a large dataset for 28 manufacturing industries and 46 countries to test these predictions. The...

Recent models of international trade show that trade costs are important determinants of exporting decisions and productivity dynamics. By assuming that these costs are exogenous and constant across firms, these theories do not take into account that experienced firms may have lower trading...

This paper examines the effect of changes in the real exchange rate on skill upgrading in the case of Chile. Using plant-level data from the manufacturing sector we find that a real depreciation increases the share of skilled workers in the total wage bill in exporters but not in non-exporters....

Using plant-level data from Chile’s manufacturing sector for the period 1990-2000, this paper examines the effect of financial development on the probability of exporting at the plant level, with a special focus on the heterogeneous responses of plants with different characteristics. The main...

This paper addresses the way optimal cash holdings decisions may be affected in episodes of adverse liquidity shocks. Motivated by the recent financial crisis, we are particularly interested in understanding how firm characteristics can explain differences in the adjustment speed to desired cash...

Using a rich dataset of Chilean exporters, we analyze several issues related to the relationship between entry into export markets and product quality. We find that every year a large number of new exporting relationships are initiated, with either new firms or existent ones that begin...

This paper analyzes the relationship between probability of survival and plant size. Using information for the Chilean manufacturing industry over the period 1979-1999, we study empirically if small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have reduced their probability of survival over time. Our...

This paper examines the link between multinational enterprises and employment growth at the plant-level. We investigate in detail the comparative response of multinationals and domestic firms to an economic crisis, using the empirical setting of a well defined case of economic slowdown in Chile...