This paper analyses the effects of the 1990 Brazilian trade liberalization on the total factor productivity, market share and profits of a sample of 349 large manufacturing firms. A panel data production function analysis for the period 1986/94 indicates very large total factor productivity...

The objective of this paper is to identify variables that influenced the efficiency level of Brazilian manufacturing establishments in 1970 and 1980. Efficiency is defined as the ratio of actual to best practice output, which is measured using deterministic translog frontier production...

This article examines the loan rate-setting behavior of German banks for a large variety of retail and corporate loan products. We find that a bank’s operational efficiency is priced in bank loan rates and alters interest-setting behavior. Specifically, we establish that a higher degree of...

This paper studies the life-cycle dynamics of exporters and multinational enterprises (MNEs). We present a dynamic model of trade and MNE activity in which the mode of serving a market depends on the well-known proximity-concentration tradeoff. We show that the option of performing MNE...

We investigate the impact of product market competition on firms’ automation investments. We use a rich combination of micro-data on Portuguese exporters and exploit a novel source of variation in the degree of competition they face – a tariff liberalization between the European Union and...