New exporters add and drop products with much greater frequency than old exporters. This paper explains this behavior with a model of demand learning in which an exporter's profitability on the demand side is determined by a time-invariant firm–destination appeal index, and transient...

This paper provides evidence that learning about demand is an important driver of firms' dynamics. We present a simple model with Bayesian learning in which firms are uncertain about their idiosyncratic demand parameter in each of the markets they serve, and update their beliefs as noisy...

We propose a new model of multi-product firms in international trade, where firms choose their product mix based on the products’ attractiveness and endogenous competition. The model is motivated by two novel stylized facts using Danish manufacturing data, which demonstrate the importance of...

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 success or failure of small, young, and private firms depends highly on the evolution of their financial position. This paper considers the post-entry/pre-exit adjustment process of firms with focus on financial dynamics (debt-to-asset ratio). Empirically examining financial relationships...

This paper examines the frequency, pervasiveness and determinants of product switching among U.S. manufacturing firms. We find that two-thirds of firms alter their mix of five-digit SIC products every five years, that one-third of the increase in real U.S. manufacturing shipments between 1972...

Using panel data from Spain Farinas and Ruano (IJIO 2005) test three hypotheses from a model by Hopenhayn (Econometrica 1992): (H1) Firms that exit in year t were in t-1 less productive than firms that continue to produce in t. (H2) Firms that enter in year t are less productive than incumbent...

This paper presents a set of facts on the cyclicality of firm births and deaths in the U.S. during the period 1979--2013. Asymmetry in the cyclicality between firm birth and firm death is observed: aggregate firm birth is generally significantly procyclical, while the (counter-)cyclicality in...