This article contributes to the literature on competition and innovation. It tests the impact of market regulation on innovation conditional to the closeness to the technological frontier with a panel of 15 industries for 17 OECD countries over the period 1979–2003. One of the main conclusions...

Are financial constraints preventing firms from importing capital goods? Sourcing capital goods from foreign countries is costly and requires internal or external financial resources. A simple model of foreign technology adoption shows that credit constraints act as a barrier to importing...

Why would an increase in imported inputs rise exports? We argue that importing more varieties of intermediate inputs increases firm’s productivity and thereby makes the firm able to overcome the export fixed costs. Whereas the literature evidences the positive effect of an increase in imported...

Recent findings in international trade using detailed firm level surveys emphasize the microeconomic effects of trade liberalization episodes. A unilateral trade reform has two opposite effects on firms’ export patterns: (i) expansion of export opportunities for foreign firms exporting to that...

This article provides a snapshot of the status of budgetary institutions, procedures and practices in Latin American countries based on the results of the OECD 2006 budget survey. Particular elements include: the legal framework and role of the legislature; fiscal rules; medium-term expenditure...

Following Melitz (2003)'s seminal paper, several theoretical and empirical studies have shown that only the subset of most productive firms export. While other studies provide evidence on a positive effect of an increase in imported inputs on firms' productivity, the link between imported...

Does an increase in imported inputs raise exports? We provide empirical evidence on the direct and indirect channels via which importing more varieties of intermediate inputs increases export scope: (1) imported inputs may enhance productivity and thereby help the firm to overcome export fixed...