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International Trade and Firms' Heterogeneity Under Monopolistic Competition

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Author Info
Sebastien Jean

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Abstract

This paper aims at shedding some light on the interactions between international trade and firms' heterogeneity, by proposing a tractable model consistent with the stylised facts unveiled by the recent empirical literature. The model describes, in a general equilibrium framework, two economies producing and trading two goods, one homogeneous and the other differentiated. In the differentiated-good sector, firms are heterogeneous by their marginal cost, in a context of monopolistic competition with free-entry and exit. They incur a fixed production cost, but also a fixed cost if they choose to export. We pay special attention to the way firms' heterogeneity influences the nature of trade and, reciprocally, to the impact of trade on the population of firms, and to its consequences in terms of industry-wide efficiency. In particular, we show that trade in differentiated goods increases industry-wide efficiency, through two different logics: one defensive, import-driven; the other offensive, export-driven. Furthermore, as soon as international efficiency differences and trade cost are sufficiently low, the offensive logic is dominant in shaping the impact of trade.

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Paper provided by CEPII research center in its series Working Papers with number 2000-13.

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Date of creation: Sep 2000
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Handle: RePEc:cii:cepidt:2000-13

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Related research
Keywords: International trade; Firms' heterogeneity; Product differentiation; Monopolistic competition; Productive efficiency;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies
L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Andrew B. Bernard & Jonathan Eaton & J. Bradford Jensen & Samuel Kortum, 2000. "Plants and Productivity in International Trade," Boston University - Institute for Economic Development 105, Boston University, Institute for Economic Development. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Bernard, Andrew B. & Jensen, J. Bradford, 1997. "Exporters, skill upgrading, and the wage gap," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 3-31, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Bernard, Andrew B. & Bradford Jensen, J., 1999. "Exceptional exporter performance: cause, effect, or both?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-25, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Montagna, Catia, 1995. "Monopolistic Competition with Firm-Specific Costs," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 47(2), pages 318-28, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Hine, Robert C & Wright, Peter W, 1998. "Trade with Low Wage Economies, Employment and Productivity in UK Manufacturing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(450), pages 1500-1510, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Roberts, Mark J & Tybout, James R, 1997. "The Decision to Export in Colombia: An Empirical Model of Entry with Sunk Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 545-64, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Andrew Bernard & Joachim Wagner, 1997. "Exports and success in German manufacturing," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 134-157, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Melitz, Marc J, 2002. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," CEPR Discussion Papers 3381, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Montagna, Catia, 2001. "Efficiency Gaps, Love of Variety and International Trade," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(269), pages 27-44, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen, 1999. "Exporting and Productivity," NBER Working Papers 7135, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Sofronis Clerides & Saul Lach & James Tybout, 1996. "Is "Learning-by-Exporting" Important? Micro-Dynamic Evidence from Colombia, Mexico and Morocco," NBER Working Papers 5715, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Tybout, James R. & Westbrook, M. Daniel, 1995. "Trade liberalization and the dimensions of efficiency change in Mexican manufacturing industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1-2), pages 53-78, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Ngo, Van Long & Soubeyran, Antoine, 1997. "Cost heterogeneity, industry concentration and strategic trade policies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1-2), pages 207-220, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen, 2004. "Why Some Firms Export," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 561-569, 04. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Matthieu Crozet & Pamina Koenig, 2007. "Structural gravity equations with intensive and extensive margins," EconomiX Working Papers 2007-36, University of Paris West - Nanterre la Défense, EconomiX. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Schröder, Philipp J.H. & Jørgensen, Jan G., 2007. "Fixed Export Cost heterogeneity, Trade and Welfare," MPRA Paper 7397, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. David Greenaway & Zhihong Yu, 2004. "Firm-level interactions between exporting and productivity: Industry-specific evidence," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 376-392, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Spiros Bougheas & Holger Görg, 2008. "Organizational forms for global engagement of firms," Kiel Working Papers 1448, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. [Downloadable!]
  5. Philipp J.H. Schröeder & Allan Sørensen, 2009. "Second Thoughts on Exporter Productivity," Economics Working Papers 2009-03, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus. [Downloadable!]
  6. Naude, Wim, 2007. "Geography and Development in Africa: Overview and Implications for Regional Cooperation," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  7. Richard Baldwin, 2005. "Heterogeneous Firms and Trade: Testable and Untestable Properties of the Melitz Model," NBER Working Papers 11471, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Blanchard, michel & Blanchard, frederic, 2007. "Optimism, Pessimism, and the Gains from Trade," MPRA Paper 6342, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  9. Zhihao Yu, 2002. "Entrepreneurship and intra-industry trade," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 138(2), pages 277-290, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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