We present a new model of multi-product firms (MPFs) and flexible manufacturing and explore its implications in partial and general equilibrium. International trade integration affects the scale and scope of MPFs through a competition effect and a demand effect. We demonstrate how MPFs adjust in...

Der Bundesminister für Wirtschaft hat mit Schreiben vom 21. Dezember 1993 das Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Berlin, das Institut für Weltwirtschaft an der Universität Kiel und das Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle damit beauftragt, das 1992 begonnene Forschungsvorhaben...

This study analyzes the impact of international trade on the diffusion of flexible manufacturing in a general equilibrium framework. Suppliers produce a flexible base product that can be adapted to the specific input requirements of a continuum of downstream industries. The vertical structure is...

The relationship between market integration and the degree of specialization plays a key role in many areas of economics. In contrast to previous studies, we illustrate that globalization does not necessarily lead to specialization. The analysis is conducted in an extended Dixit-Stiglitz- Ethier...

The retail sectors in many industrialized countries have experienced a large increase in concentration and the appearance of so-called \retail deserts\, areas of low retail provision. This study addresses the role of international trade in this process. The analysis shows that by raising product...