Trade liberalization in the 1980s and 1990s has been associated with a sharp increase in the skill premium in both developed and developing countries. This is in apparent conflict with neoclassical theory, according to which trade should decrease the relative return on the relatively scarce...

In this paper, we use a linked employer–employee database from Brazil to evaluate the wage effects of trade reform. With an aggregate (firm-level) analysis of this question, we find that a decline in trade protection is associated with an increase in average wages in exporting firms relative...

A model of heterogeneous firms with variety-specific fixed costs is developed and analyzed to study how multiproduct firms respond to globalization. In contrast with most existing models, the analysis demonstrates that more-productive firms may expand their product scope, which in turn may push...

This paper examines tariff liberalization within an environment of heterogeneous demand elasticities. Varieties produced at a lower cost (a) are imported at lower absolute demand elasticities and (b) earn higher revenues. By virtue of larger demand elasticities, low revenue varieties benefit the...

In this paper, we study the role of vertical product differentiation in the decision to allocate production between domestic and foreign plants. To do so, we examine the first wave of light-truck offshoring to Mexico that occurred due to substantially lower post-NAFTA trade barriers and a...

In this paper we present a version of the Melitz (2003) model for the case of a small economy and summarize its key relationships with the aid of a simple figure. We then use this figure to provide an intuitive analysis of the implications of asymmetric changes in trade barriers and show that a...

This paper explores the impact of input trade liberalization on imported input and exported product prices. Using Chinese transaction data for 2000–2006, we capture causal effects between exogenous input tariff reductions and within firm changes in HS6-traded product prices. For...