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Betting on Exports: Trade and Endogenous Heterogeneity

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  • Alessandra Bonfiglioli
  • Rosario Crinò
  • Gino Gancia

Abstract

We study the equilibrium determinants of firm-level heterogeneity in a model in which firms can affect the variance of their productivity draws at the entry stage, and explore the implications in closed and open economy. By allowing firms to choose the size of their investment in innovation projects of unknown quality, the model yields a Pareto distribution for productivity with a shape parameter that depends on industry-level characteristics. A novel result is that export opportunities, by increasing the payoffs in the tail, induce firms to invest in bigger projects with more spread-out outcomes. Moreover, when more productive firms also pay higher wages, trade amplifies wage dispersion by making all firms more unequal. These results are consistent with new evidence on how firm-level heterogeneity and wage dispersion vary in a panel of U.S. industries. Finally, we use patent data across U.S. states and over time to provide evidence in support of a specific mechanism of the model, namely, that export opportunities increase firm heterogeneity by fostering innovation. Forthcoming in The Economic Journal

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandra Bonfiglioli & Rosario Crinò & Gino Gancia, 2015. "Betting on Exports: Trade and Endogenous Heterogeneity," Working Papers 800, Barcelona School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:800
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    Cited by:

    1. Bonfiglioli, Alessandra & Crinò, Rosario & Gancia, Gino, 2021. "Concentration in international markets: Evidence from US imports," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 19-39.
    2. Berlingieri, Giuseppe & Blanchenay, Patrick & Criscuolo, Chiara, 2024. "The great divergence(s)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    3. Crinò, Rosario & Ogliari, Laura, 2017. "Financial imperfections, product quality, and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 63-84.
    4. Morten Olsen & Joshua Gottlieb & David Hemous & Jeffrey Clemens, 2017. "The Spill-over Effects of Top Income Inequality," 2017 Meeting Papers 332, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    5. Alessandra Bonfiglioli & Rosario Crinò & Gino Gancia, 2019. "Trade, Finance, and Endogenous Firm Heterogeneity," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 79-130.
    6. Alessandra Bonfiglioli & Rosario Crinò & Gino Gancia, 2018. "Firms and Economic Performance: A View from Trade," Working Papers 1047, Barcelona School of Economics.
    7. Bonfiglioli, Alessandra & De Pace, Federica, 2021. "Export, Female Comparative Advantage and the Gender Wage Gap," CEPR Discussion Papers 15801, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Masashige Hamano & Francesco Zanetti, 2017. "Endogenous Turnover and Macroeconomic Dynamics," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 26, pages 263-279, October.
    9. Bonfiglioli, Alessandra, 2016. "Comments on “Liquidity constrained exporters” by T. Chaney," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 155-158.
    10. Chaney, Thomas, 2016. "Liquidity constrained exporters," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 141-154.
    11. Chaney, Thomas, 2016. "Liquidity constrained exporters," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 141-154.
    12. Arnoletto,Matias & Franco Bedoya,Sebastian & Reyes,Jose Daniel, 2020. "Exporters Dynamics and the Role of Imports in Argentina," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9218, The World Bank.
    13. Crinò, Rosario & Bonfiglioli, Alessandra & Gancia, Gino, 2021. "International Trade with Heterogeneous Firms: Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 16249, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Bonfiglioli, Alessandra, 2020. "Comment on “Trade integration in Colombia: A dynamic general equilibrium study with new exporter dynamics”," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    15. L. Benfratello & A. Bottasso & C. Piccardo, 2022. "R&D and export performance: exploring heterogeneity along the export intensity distribution," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(2), pages 189-232, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    firm heterogeneity; productivity dispersion; wage inequality; international trade;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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