We develop a model of international trade with two sources of firm heterogeneity: "productivity" and "caliber". Productivity is modeled as is standard in the literature. Caliber is the ability to produce quality using few fixed inputs. While there is no quality restriction to sell domestically,...

We develop a model of international trade with export quality requirements and two dimensions of firm heterogeneity. In addition to "productivity", firms are also heterogeneous in their "caliber" {the ability to produce quality using fewer fixed inputs. Compared to singleattribute models of firm...

We develop a model of international trade with two dimensions of firm heterogeneity and export quality constraints that manifest as higher variable trade costs for lower quality firms. In addition to "productivity", firms are also heterogeneous in their "caliber" -- the ability to develop...

The research work consists of two parts. In the first theoretical part we analyse the formulae of revealed comparative advantages (RCA) and of the Grubel-Lloyd indices as an analysis instrument of international specialisation and of inter- and intra-industry one of national economies. The second...

The paper evaluates competitiveness of Latvia's exporters from various aspects by using detailed trade data from Comtrade. Competitiveness represented by the market share of Latvia's products in world trade was on the rising trend, growing almost two times between 1999 and 2010. Such a dynamic...

Policies to stimulate export growth and diversify the composition of exports in South Africa are now high on the government’s agenda. In order to understand exporting and its impact on job creation, one needs to understand how firms function, what determines, or constrains, exporting at the...

New exporters add and drop products with much greater frequency than old exporters. This paper rationalizes this behavior with a model of demand learning in which an exporter’s profitability on the demand side is determined by a time-invariant firmdestination appeal index, and transient...

This paper evaluates the competitiveness of Latvia's exporters from various aspects by using detailed trade data from UN Comtrade. Competitiveness represented by the market share of Latvia's products in world trade was on a rising trend, growing almost two times between 1999 and 2010. This...

This note explores the relationship between the price elasticity of demand and the R&D intensity of the product. We introduce the concept of R&D intensity into a standard Dixit-Stiglitz/Krugmann-type setting. R&D activity is treated as a ficed cost of production. Within this framework, sectors...

Following along the lines of a growing literature on the causal link between export- ing and productivity this paper analyzes the existence of flearning-by-exporting using frm-level data. The paper asks whether, in addition to better performing firms self-selecting into exports and multinational...