Special economic zones, one of the most important instruments of industrial policy in developing countries, often feature export share requirements. That is, firms located in these zones are obliged to export more than a certain stated share of their output to enjoy the wide array of incentives...

This paper studies the export decision of risk-averse firms in a model featuring aggregate uncertainty and no capital markets. Firms seeking to enter the foreign market face a sunk cost as well as a fixed participation cost every period they export. Using a calibrated version of the model, I...

CHAPTER 1: Productivity Improvements and Falling Trade Costs: Boon or Bane?This essay looks at two features of globalization, namely, productivity improvements and falling trade costs, and explores their effect on welfare in a monopolistic competition model with heterogeneous firms and...

This paper develops and estimates a structural model of production and inventory behavior for manufacturing plants in two Colombian industries, metal products and plastic product, from 1977 to 1991. Plant level decisions on production, inventories, sales, entry, and exit are developed using an...