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Trade and Prices with Heterogeneous Firms

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  • Robert Johnson

    (UC Berkeley)

Abstract

This paper estimates a heterogeneous firms trade model using disaggregate data on export values and prices. Prices contain information about differences in product quality across firms and countries that helps identify key mechanisms in the model. Examining within country variation in export prices across destination markets, I find that prices behave in a manner inconsistent with the benchmark model that ignores product quality differences across firms. In doing so, I demonstrate that export prices in most sectors are consistent with a model in which high productivity firms choose to produce high quality goods and charge high prices. Using model estimates, I also quantify the role of endogenous nontradability in accounting for variation in prices and trade flows, and construct an index of cross-country quality and variety within sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Johnson, 2008. "Trade and Prices with Heterogeneous Firms," 2008 Meeting Papers 244, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed008:244
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Costas Arkolakis, 2007. "Market Access Costs and the New Consumers Margin in International Trade," 2007 Meeting Papers 234, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. George Alessandria & Horag Choi, 2007. "Do Sunk Costs of Exporting Matter for Net Export Dynamics?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 122(1), pages 289-336.
    3. Sofronis K. Clerides & Saul Lach & James R. Tybout, 1998. "Is Learning by Exporting Important? Micro-Dynamic Evidence from Colombia, Mexico, and Morocco," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 113(3), pages 903-947.
    4. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    5. Aw, Bee Yan & Chung, Sukkyun & Roberts, Mark J, 2000. "Productivity and Turnover in the Export Market: Micro-level Evidence from the Republic of Korea and Taiwan (China)," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 14(1), pages 65-90, January.
    6. ., 2006. "International Trade," Chapters, in: David Alexander Clark (ed.),The Elgar Companion to Development Studies, chapter 60, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Pablo Fajgelbaum & Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 2011. "Income Distribution, Product Quality, and International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(4), pages 721-765.
    2. Richard Baldwin & James Harrigan, 2011. "Zeros, Quality, and Space: Trade Theory and Trade Evidence," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 60-88, May.
    3. Juan Carlos Hallak & Jagadeesh Sivadasan, 2009. "Firms' Exporting Behavior under Quality Constraints," Working Papers 09-13, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    4. Martin, Julien, 2012. "Markups, quality, and transport costs," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 777-791.
    5. Sabrina Chancelier, 2015. "El Rol de la Calidad en la Dirección del Comercio: Analizando el comportamiento de las empresas exportadoras," Económica, Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, vol. 61, pages 127-153, January-D.
    6. László Halpern & Balázs Muraközy, 2012. "Innovation, productivity and exports: the case of Hungary," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 151-173, January.
    7. Raphael A. Auer, 2009. "Taste Heterogeneity, Trade, and the Within-Industry Home Market Effect," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 145(IV), pages 387-403, December.
    8. Raphael Auer, 2009. "Product Heterogeneity, Within-Industry Trade Patterns, and the Home Bias of Consumption?," Working Papers 09.05, Swiss National Bank, Study Center Gerzensee.
    9. Raphael Auer & Thomas Chaney, 2009. "Exchange Rate Pass‐Through in a Competitive Model of Pricing‐to‐Market," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(s1), pages 151-175, February.
    10. Holger Görg & Richard Kneller & Balázs Muraközy, 2012. "What makes a successful export? Evidence from firm-product-level data," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1332-1368, November.

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