Using a comprehensive dataset of all medium and large enterprises in China between 1998 and 2007, we show that industrial policies allocated to competitive sectors or that foster competition in a sector increase productivity growth. We measure competition using the Lerner Index and include as...

In a stylized model, firms differentiate their products to escape import com- petition. Facing a nested CES demand, each firm chooses between a nest with competitors and its own nest under higher costs. The profit from differentiation is an inverted U-shaped function of firm productivity. It...