Primary commodities are used as inputs into all production processes, yet they account for approximately 16 percent of world trade. Despite their share in trade, we show that the aggregate gains from trade are largely understated if we ignore key features of commodities: low price elasticities...

International supply chains require the coordination of numerous activities across multiple countries and firms. This paper develops a theoretical model of supply chains in which the measure of tasks completed within a firm is determined by parameters that define transaction costs and the cost...

International supply chains require coordination of numerous activities across multiple countries and firms. We adapt a model of supply chains and apply it to an international trade setting. In each chain, the measure of tasks completed within a firm is determined by transaction costs and the...

The gravity equation for trade flows is one of the most successful empirical models in economics and has long played a central role in the trade literature (Anderson, 2011). Different approaches to estimate the gravity equation, i.e. reduced-form or more structural, have been proposed. This...

A growing literature has documented the role of rm heterogeneity within sectors in accounting for nominal income inequality. This paper explores the implications for household price indices across the income distribution. Using detailed matched US home and store scanner microdata, we present...

This paper investigates the role of income-driven differences in consumption patterns in explaining and projecting energy demand and <i>CO_2</i> emissions. We develop and estimate a general-equilibrium model with non-homothetic preferences across a large set of countries and sectors, and trace embodied...

Primary commodities are used as inputs into all production processes, yet they account for approximately 16 percent of world trade. Despite their share in trade, we show that the aggregate gains from trade are largely understated if we ignore key features of commodities: low price elasticities...

Measuring changes in welfare, and particularly the price index, is challenging in the absence of well-measured prices covering the entire consumption basket. We propose and implement a new approach to estimate changes in income-group specific price indices and welfare using rich, but widely...