This paper studies whether credit constraints affect the decision of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) to upgrade the quality of their exported output with respect to the one sold domestically. We use a detailed firm-level data-set on Italian SMEs reporting information on output...

This paper studies the effect of credit constraints on the choice by small and medium-sized enterprises to export goods of higher quality relative to their domestically sold output (quality differentiation). The empirical analysis employs detailed firm-level data on product characteristics and...

This paper investigates how income inequality affects the quality of imported products. In a heterogeneous-firms trade model, I show that higher inequality increases total expenditure leading to a reduction in unit value and quality of imported goods. To test this prediction, I employ detailed...