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What Do Market-Access Subsidies Do? Experimental Evidence from Tunisia

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  • Nadia Ali
  • Giacomo De Giorgi
  • Aminur Rahman
  • Eric Verhoogen

Abstract

Many countries seek to promote exports by subsidizing market access, but evidence on such efforts has been mixed. We present the first randomized evaluation of a government financial-support program explicitly targeting exports, the Tasdir+ program in Tunisia. The program offered matching grants for fixed market-access costs but not variable costs. Tracking outcomes in administrative data, we find positive effects on exports on average. We find limited impacts on the number of destinations or exported products, which were stated policy targets. The finding that the fixed-cost subsidies expanded exports on the intensive margin but not the extensive margins of destinations or products stands in contrast to the predictions of several workhorse trade models.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadia Ali & Giacomo De Giorgi & Aminur Rahman & Eric Verhoogen, 2025. "What Do Market-Access Subsidies Do? Experimental Evidence from Tunisia," NBER Working Papers 33985, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33985
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    3. Davies, Elwyn & Deffebach, Peter & Iacovone, Leonardo & McKenzie, David, 2024. "Training microentrepreneurs over Zoom: Experimental evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
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    1. Nicolás de Roux & Luis R. Martínez & Camilo Tovar & Jorge Tovar, 2025. "Trade Collapse and the Performance of Exporting Firms," Documentos CEDE 2025-34, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

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