We use unique plant-level data to study the link between the local availability of services and the decision of manufacturing firms to source materials from abroad. To guide our empirical analysis we develop a monopolistic-competition model of the materials sourcing decisions of heterogeneous...

Using Chinese customs data for estimating a discrete choice model between potential export destinations, we present evidence for sequential export investment decisions of exporters driven by search and learning processes in foreign markets. Using a fixed effects conditional logit model, we...

This paper presents novel empirical evidence on key predictions of heterogeneous firm models by examining stock market reactions to the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1989. Using the uncertainty surrounding the agreement's ratification, I show that the pattern of abnormal returns...

The field of New Economic Geography (NEG) aims at explaining agglomeration based on increasing returns, monopolistic competition and international factor mobility. Deviating from existing approaches, this paper constructs a theoretical model based on capital market frictions. Firms compete...

Cross border transactions are conducted using different payment contracts, the usage of which varies across countries and over time. In this paper I build a model that can explain this observation and study implications from this for international trade. In the model exporters optimally choose...

There is strong empirical evidence that countries with lower per capita income tend to have smaller trade volumes even after controlling for aggregate income. Furthermore, poorer countries do not just trade less, but have a lower number of trading partners. In this paper, I construct and...

This paper sets up a general oligopolistic equilibrium model with unionized labor markets. By accounting for productivity differences, the model features profit and wage differentials across industries. We use this setting to study the impact of trade liberalization on employment, welfare, and...