We use transaction-level US import data to compare firms from virtually all countries in the world competing in a single destination market. Guided by a simple theoretical framework, we decompose countries' market shares into the contribution of the number of firm-products, their average...

We use transaction-level data to study changes in the concentration of US imports. Concentration has fallen in the typical industry, while it is stable by industry and country of origin. The fall in concentration is driven by the extensive margin: the number of exporting firm has grown, and the...

This paper studies the effects of the minimum wage on the life cycle of firms. We first build a tractable model where heterogeneous firms have labor market power, invest in innovation, and choose formal or informal sectors. The model predicts that a minimum wage hike not only shrinks young and...

After following inward oriented economic policies for nearly four decades, India opened up to international trade in the early 1990s. Since then, the trade integration of the Indian economy in general and the manufacturing sector in particular has increased phenomenally. Against this backdrop,...

This paper revisits the relationship between labour taxation and international trade, focusing on the role of domestic labour value added. Using sectoral data from 41 EU and OECD economies over the period 2005- 2014, we assess how labour taxes affect exports and imports and how domestic labour...

This paper estimates the effects of NAFTA on labor and wages in Mexico using a local labor-markets approach. While NAFTA offered greater export opportunities to Mexican firms that may raise employment, it also opened the door to increased import competition that may dampen employment gains. This...

Exports serve as an engine of economic growth and can potentially help countries come out of poverty and unemployment. However, as the production process is increasingly getting fragmented globally, greater exports no longer imply higher domestic production, as imports of intermediate products...

This paper develops a two-country, general equilibrium model of oligopoly in which the degree of horizontal product differentiation is endogenously determined by firms strategic investments in product innovation. Consumers seek variety and product innovation is more skill intensive than...

This paper documents an inverse U-shape in the evolution of wage inequality in Latin America since 1995, with a sharp reduction starting in 2002. The Gini coefficient of wages increased from 42 to 44 between 1995 and 2002 and declined to 39 by 2015. Between 2002 and 2015, the 90/10 log hourly...