This paper examines the effect of changes in the real exchange rate on skill upgrading in the case of Chile. Using plant-level data from the manufacturing sector we find that a real depreciation increases the share of skilled workers in the total wage bill in exporters but not in non-exporters....

This paper explores the link between exports and total factor productivity (TFP) in Brazilian manufacturing firms over the period 2000–2008. The Brazilian experience is instructive as it is a case of an economy that expanded aggregate exports significantly, but with stagnant aggregate TFP...

This paper examines how firms in an emerging economy are affected by violence due to drug trafficking. Employing rich longitudinal plant-level data covering all of Mexico from 2005–2010, and using an instrumental variable strategy that exploits plausibly exogenous spatiotemporal variation in...

Several studies examine the patterns and determinants of entry and exit in manufacturing industries. Not much work exists on entry and exit in international markets. This paper uses Chilean data to analyze the determinants of entry and exit in and out of export markets. We find that entry and...

China's emergence has raised pointed questions about the future of manufacturing in Latin America. This paper looks at this challenge and its implications. It begins by asking: Does manufacturing still matter for Latin America? It argues that the region cannot afford to turn its back to a...

China's emergence has raised pointed questions about the future of manufacturing in Latin America. Once saw as its economic future, the viability of this activity in the region has long been challenged by traditional trade theory and, in practical terms, by at least three generations of Asian...

Most high and middle-income countries showed symptoms of skill-biased technological change in the 1980s. India - a low income country - did not, perhaps because India's traditionally controlled economy may have limited the transfer of technologies from abroad. However the economy underwent a...

Korea’s manufacturing sector, the third most competitive in the world, has helped it weather the COVID-19 pandemic.While the global economy shrank 3.3 percent in 2020, its worst slowdown since the 2008 global financial crisis, the Korean economy contracted by just one percent thanks to its...

We use Belgianfirm-level data over the period 1996-2007 to analyze the impact of im- ports from China and other low-wage countries onfirm growth, exit, and skill upgrading in manufacturing. For this purpose we use both industry-level andfirm-level imports by country of origin and distinguish...

We use Belgian firm-level data over the period 1996-2007 to analyze the impact of imports from China and other low-wage countries on firm growth, exit, and skill upgrading in manufacturing. For this purpose we use both industry-level and firm-level imports by country of origin and distinguish...