This paper develops an oligopolistic model of international trade with heterogeneous firms and endogenous R&D to examine how trade liberalization affects firm and industry productivity, as well as social welfare. We identify four effects of trade liberalization on productivity: (i) a direct...

We use Japanese firm-level data to examine how a firm?s productivity affects its choice of foreign-market entry strategy. We study a sequence of decisions, starting with the choice between exporting and foreign direct investment (FDI). In the case of FDI, the firm faces two options: greenfield...

Recent theoretical works suggest that migrants carry their social networks when moving across borders and that they bridge the information gap between partner countries. We derive a theoretical model where migrants reduce informational trade barriers and thus enhance exports. The model is...

How did the location of industry across interwar Poland react to the Polish reunification? After more than 120 years of political and economic separation, Poland was reunified at the end of 1918. In consequence, the removal of internal tariff barriers and improved infrastructure strengthened the...

This paper discusses the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on market entry and welfare in a model of two countries and two periods. In the first period, firms enter the market as national firms, in the second period, FDI is possible. The paper demonstrates that FDI reduces market entry...

We know that euro-area member countries have absorbed asymmetric shocks in ways that are inconsistent with a common nominal anchor. Based on a reformulation of the gravity model that allows for such bilateral misalignment, we disentangle the conventional trade cost channel and trade effects...

Do trade integration and fiscal competition contribute to shape the economic landscape? The answer is yes. This paper uses a theoretical model and an econometric analysis of Brazilian regional manufacturing employment data over the period 1990-1998 to address this question. Brazil is a natural...

Trade economists traditionally study the effect of lower variable trade costs. While increasingly important politically, technical barriers to trade (TBTs) have received less attention. Viewing TBTs as fixed regulatory costs related to the entry into export markets, we use a model with...

The business literature suggests that exporters either use trade intermediaries or own foreign sales representations. Standard trade models are silent about this choice. We develop a model where producers differ with respect to competitive advantage and where trade intermediaries arise...

Cultural proximity increases bilateral trade flows through a trade-cost and a bilateral-affinity (preferences) channel. Conventional measures of cultural proximity, such as common language, common religion, etc., do not allow to separately quantify those channels empirically. We argue that...