The analysis of the effects of firm-level international trade on wages has so far focused on the role of exports, which are also typically treated as a composite good. However, we show in this paper that firm-level imports can actually be a wage determinant as important as exports. Furthermore,...

In this paper we propose a framework for studying export dynamics and market specific flows in a multicountry model of trade with heterogenous firms.<br>Countries are asymmetric in terms of their size, the size distribution of potential entrants, properties of firms idiosyncratic shocks, and trade...

Expansion into foreign markets is a major decision for a firm and it involves choices about which countries to approach and which products to export. We use a new database that covers the universe of export transactions for firms located in Portugal for the period 1996-2005 in order to examine...

This paper introduces persistent productivity shocks in a continuous-time mononopolistic competition model of trade with hetererogenous firms similar to Melitz (2003). In our model, the presence of sunk costs and uncertainty have three main consequences: first, firms export decisions become...

We use a global competition model of international trade to characterize the effects of trade reforms occurred in Chile at the end of the 70s. We calibrate the model and evaluate its results using a comprehensive plant-level dataset for the period 1979-96. The model is able to explain many of...

This paper develops a dynamic monopolistic competition model with heterogenous firms to analyze the effects of uncertainty on international trade. We characterize a stationary equilibrium, with N symmetric countries, where firms’ productivities evolve stochastically over time. Our model...

Casual empiricism suggests that additive trade costs, such as quotas, per-unit tariffs, and, in part, transportation costs, are prevalent. In spite of this, we have no broad and systematic evidence of the magnitude of these costs. We develop a new empirical framework for estimating additive...

This paper introduces idiosyncratic firm efficiency shocks into a continuous-time general equilibrium model of trade with heterogeneous firms. The presence of sunk export entry costs and efficiency uncertainty gives rise to hysteresis in export market participation. A firm will enter into the...