Analysis of firm-level panel data from three sub-Saharan African economies shows that exporting manufacturers have a total factor productivity premium of 11-28 percent. The data do not allow testing of whether these premiums are caused by selection of more efficient producers into exporting or...

Examining China’s manufacturing and transportation, we analyze how rapid expressway-network expansion fostered market access and industrial development. A domestic-trade model generates the market-access formula, estimatable equations, and economics for empirical findings. An estimation of...

Examining China’s manufacturing and transportation, we analyze how rapid expressway-network expansion fostered market access and industrial development. A domestic-trade model generates the market-access formula, estimatable equations, and economics for empirical findings. An estimation of...

Although information and communication technologies (ICT) consume energy themselves, they are considered to have the potential to reduce overall energy intensity within economic sectors. While previous empirical evidence is based on aggregated data, this is the first large-scale empirical study...

Although information and communication technologies (ICT) consume energy themselves, they are considered to have the potential to reduce overall energy intensity within economic sectors. While previous empirical evidence is based on aggregated data, this is the first large-scale empirical study...

This paper is the first to use a panel dataset from the African continent to investigate the relationship between formalization and firm outcomes. Instead of applying a binary formality indicator, it constructs a conceptual framework that regards informality as a continuum consisting of four...

Which firms are driven out of business the African context? Given that many markets do not function efficiently in Africa, the determinants of firm exit may not be the same fundamentals that force business closure elsewhere. In particular, less productive firms may not be the ones forced out of...

The impact of uncertainty on firms' investment outlays is subject to an ongoing debate. Theory identifies several channels. Irreversibility, financing constraints and risk aversion make a negative relationship between uncertainty and investment likely. On the other hand, the ability of firms to...