Using Chinese manufacturing firm data over the period of 1998-2007, we find that firms become less capital-intensive after exporting, compared to similar non-exporting firms. To rationalize this finding that contrasts with existing evidence for most countries, we develop a variant of the...

Existing studies show that intermediaries can help verify or screen product quality for buyers. This paper examines this claim both theoretically and empirically in the context of international trade. We develop a heterogeneous-firm model that features vertical and horizontal differentiations of...

This article studies how real exchange rate movements affect firm export behavior, using monthly data that cover the universe of Chinese export transactions over the period of 2000--2006. Specifically, we examine exchange rate effects on an exporter's extensive (entry, exit, and product...

Using detailed product-level export data for China and a variant of the Antras and Helpman (2004) model that includes investments in component search, we examine the sectoral determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) versus foreign outsourcing in export processing trade. We exploit the...

This paper examines how immigration affects native wages by exploiting an unexpected episode of immigrant influx. The episode happened in Hong Kong, when its government unexpectedly relaxed the restriction on immigration from mainland China in 1993, resulting in a seven-fold increase in the net...

China's increased trade with, and investment in, Africa have boosted the continent's economic growth but have also generated considerable controversy. The aggregate data on China's overseas direct investment (ODI) in African countries reveal that China's share of the stock of foreign investment...