This paper introduces the theory of firm organization under moral hazard into an equilibrium model of international trade with heterogeneous talents and technologies. The model is able to explain how the allocation of power and the provision of financial incentives inside firms varies within and...

I analyse firms organisational choices when they face uncertainty about institutional conditions in foreign locations with heterogeneous final good producers and incomplete contracts. As firms learn about the conditions abroad, the increasing offshoring activity increases competition in the...

This paper studies the effect of trade facilitation on vertical firm structure using plant-level data from Switzerland. Based on the Business Census and the Input-Output table, we first calculate a binary measure of vertical integration for all plants registered in Switzerland. We then estimate...

To explain organizational decisions in multistage production processes we assume a production process with one producer and two suppliers of which one is the firm's direct supplier and the other one is the supplier of the supplier. The firm decides only on the organizational form of her direct...

Final good production often requires a firm's headquarter services and a foreign supplier's manufacturing input. With incomplete contracts, firms that decide whether to choose integration or outsourcing of this supplier do not only have to consider the ex ante investment incentives that...

We present a dynamic occupational choice model with a learning algorithm simultaneously capable to explain entrepreneurial entry, exit, and survival. According to our model, those individuals decide to become entrepreneurs who expect their productivity to be highest when managed by themselves....

The paper develops a simple theoretical model of inventory control in global value chains. It identifies a role for intermediaries in managing inventory, and shows that inserting an intermediary as an additional link in a value chain is profitable when demand volatility is high. It also provides...

This paper investigates the role of firm productivity in drawing firm boundaries in global sourcing. Our analysis focuses on how productivity affects the allocation of ownership rights between the headquarter of a firm and its intermediate input supplier (vertical integration vs. outsourcing),...

This paper is a first attempt to analyse the relationship between spatial agglomeration and firms’ organizational structures. It takes advantage of a large data set on Italian business groups that allowed us to analyse the differences in the presence and characteristics of business groups...

We analyze the spatial diffusion of laser-technology in Germany during the early phase of development, between 1960 and 2005. Research in this new technological field began in a few larger centers and then spread to other regions. In the early years, a large firm of the electronics industry...