What has been the overall global welfare impact of the accession to the World Trade Organization of a large country like China, or the global welfare impact of the completion of the Uruguay round of GATT negotiations? Can we come up with a simple user-friendly formula to calculate the global...

This paper examines the relationship between the credit constraints faced by a firm and the unit value prices of its exports. The paper modifies Arkolakis’s (2010) model of trade with heterogeneous firms by introducing endogenous quality and credit constraints. The model predicts that tighter...

This paper looks at the outsourcing of research and development (Ramp;D) activities. We consider cost reducing Ramp;D and allow manufacturing firms to decide whether to outsource the project to research subcontractors or carry out the research in-house. We use a principal-agent framework and...

This paper presents theory and evidence that tighter credit constrains force firms to produce lower quality. The paper develops a quality sorting model that predicts that tighter credit constraints faced by a firm reduce its optimal prices due to its choice of lower-quality products. Conversely,...

Price controls create opportunities for international arbitrage. Many have argued that such arbitrage, if tolerated, will undermine intellectual property rights and dull the incentives for investment in research-intensive industries such as pharmaceuticals. We challenge this orthodox view and...