The economic effects of offshoring have been subject to extensive empirical analysis in the past, but many studies have not accurately distinguished between offshoring, domestic outsourcing, and the substitution of domestic by foreign suppliers. In this study I provide stylized facts on...

Learning-by-exporting proponents argue that exporting increases productivity by exposing producers to new technologies or through product quality upgrading. This study is based on the observation that the technological superiority and severity of product quality requirements are not the same in...

If firms were animals rather than economic entities, a behavioral scientist trying to describe their traits would observe that firms tend to be found in herds and usually migrate towards the biggest watering holes. This paper surveys the literature on the questions why firms grow stronger with...

Catching-up of East German productivity to West German levels has completely faded out since the mid l990s. The remaining productivity gap cannot be attributed to an inferior capital endowment. Instead, it appears to be the result of an inappropriate design of industrial policy which fostered...

This paper analyzes the optimal adjustment strategy of an inventory-holding firm facing price- and quantity-adjustment costs in an inflationary environment. The model nests both the original menu-cost model that allows production to be costlessly adjusted, and the later model that includes...

This paper contributes to Hübler (2008) who analyses a partial equilibrium model of outsourcing with Cournot competition in intermediate good production. Final production is located in Western Europe, whereas the intermediate good can be manufactured by a Western (outsourcing) or Eastern...

The paper analyses a partial equilibrium outsourcing model with Cournot competition in intermediate good production. Final production is located in western Europe, whereas the intermediate good can be manufactured by a western (outsourcing) or eastern European supplier (offshore outsourcing)....

We empirically assess the determinants of India’s FDI outflows across a large sample of host countries in the 1996-2009 period. Based on gravity model specifications, we employ Poisson pseudo maximum likelihood (PPML) estimators. Major findings include: India’s outward FDI is hardly affected...

We construct comprehensive and comparable indices on the most relevant components of economic infrastructure. An unobserved components model is employed to cover the largest possible number of developing and developed countries over the period 1990-2010. We map major findings from the new...