This paper evaluates the impact of idiosyncratic productivity shocks to individual firms on aggregate output. Two sources of firm-level heterogeneity contribute to aggregate fluctuations: (i) asymmetries in supplier-buyer relationships and (ii) the skewed distribution of sales to final demand....

This paper compares various estimation methods often used in the estimation of gravity models of international trade. The authors first discuss different structural and consistent estimation techniques, their underlying assumptions and their impact on estimated coefficients. They then estimate...

This paper compares various estimation techniques used to determine the impact of distance and borders on international trade. The results consistently confirm the significantly negative distance effect, while the border effect, measured by evaluating whether intra-continental trade exceeds...

This paper evaluates the impact of idiosyncratic productivity shocks to individual firms on aggregate output. Two sources of firm-level heterogeneity contribute to aggregate fluctuations: (i) asymmetries in supplier-buyer relationships and (ii) the skewed distribution of sales to final demand....