This paper identifies the causal impact of urban rail transport on firm location. The evaluation of transport infrastructures always faces an important issue of endogeneity since rail lines are not randomly located. We use the natural experiment offered by the Regional Express Rail (RER) in the...

We document how demand shocks in export markets lead French multi-product exporters to re-allocate the mix of products sold in those destinations. In response to positive demand shocks, those French firms skew their export sales towards their best performing products; and also extend the range...

This paper shows that real effective exchange rate (REER) regressions, the standard approach for estimating the response of aggregate exports to exchange rate changes, imply biased estimates of the underlying elasticities. We provide a new aggregate regression specification that is consistent...

This paper studies the determinants of individual location choices of manufacturing production units by foreign affiliates. It concentrates on the specific case of FDI location in France over the period from 1985 to 1995 and evaluates, in particular, how regional policies in favour of French...

Using provisions to ease the movement of business visitors in trade agreements, we show that removing barriers to the movement of business people promotes trade. We document the increasing complexity of Free Trade Agreements and develop an algorithm that combines machine learning and text...

[From the foreword]. What are the features of European firms that successfully compete in international markets? To what extent do they contribute to productivity and employment? What are the policies that can improve a nation’s foreign trade performance? What policies can promote the...

[From the foreword]. What are the features of European firms that successfully compete in international markets? To what extent do they contribute to productivity and employment? What are the policies that can improve a nation’s foreign trade performance? What policies can promote the...

The paper examines the determinants of location choices of French multinational firms in eastern and western Europe. The sample includes 1,843 location choices in 19 countries over the years 1980-1999. The results suggest there might be important differences between the two regions of Europe...

We assess the consequences for consumers in 76 countries of multinational acquisitions in beer and spirits. Outcomes depend on how changes in ownership affect markups versus efficiency. We find that owner fixed effects contribute very little to the performance of brands. On average, foreign...