Imports are often perceived as a threat to employment. However, access to imported intermediate inputs can be essential to stimulate innovation and generate employment. We investigate this question based on a unique dataset of Ecuadorian manufacturing firms, their final products and intermediate...

This paper uses plant–level data from Chile to show that an increase in sector–wide exports decreases the survival probability of exporters, but not that of non–exporters. We argue that this result can be explained by the fact that exporters and non-exporters use factors of production in...

This paper uses plant-level data from Chile to show that an increase in sector-wide exports decreases the survival probability of exporters, but not that of non-exporters. We argue that this result can be explained by the fact that exporters and non-exporters use factors of production in...

This volume was prepared by Sebastian Benz while he was working at the Ifo Institute. It was completed in December 2013 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It includes five self-contained chapters. All chapters discuss different...

This paper examines the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on employment generation for a group of Latin American countries in the period 1980-2006. Using a dynamic panel model, which is estimated with the Arellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond system estimator, I find that FDI has a positive and...

This paper analyzes the relationship between the intensity of international trade flows and labor productivity for 28 industries in the five main economies in the region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico)using the Arellano-Bond generalized method of moments (GMM)estimator. The...

It is rarely questioned that the European Union can be considered a model for other world regions. Comparable initiatives elsewhere are much less integrated, and up until now less successful, even if like Mercosur they are based on the European model. Although elements of the democratic rule of...

Brazil was characterised by a marked process of trade liberalisation in the '90s, resulting in a dramatic increase in the volumes of exports and imports since the year 2000.Over the same period, the relative demand for skilled labour has increased substantially. To investigate whether these two...

Brazil was characterised by a marked process of trade liberalisation in the 1990s, resulting in a dramatic increase in the volumes of exports and imports since the year 2000. Over the same period, the relative demand for skilled labour has increased substantially. To investigate whether these...

This paper studies the effect of an expansion of imported intermediate inputs on establishments’ average task intensities and employment size in a middle-income country. I use confidential matched employer-employee data and information on trade transactions for the universe of Brazilian firms....