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Capital Adjustment Costs: Implications for Domestic and Export Sales Dynamics

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  • Liu, Yanping

Abstract

Theoretical and empirical work on export dynamics has generally assumed constant marginal production cost and therefore ignored domestic product market conditions. However, recent studies have documented a negative correlation between firms' do- mestic and export sales growth, suggesting that firms can be capacity constrained in the short run and face increasing marginal production cost. This paper develops and estimates a dynamic model of export behavior incorporating short-term capacity con- straints and endogenous capital investment. Consistent with the empirical evidence, the model features firms' sales substitutions across markets in the short term, and generates time-varying transition paths of firm responses through firms' capital adjust- ments over time. The model is fit to a panel of plant-level data for Colombian manufacturing indus- tries and used to simulate how firm responses transition following an exchange-rate devaluation. The results indicate that incorporating capital adjustment costs is quan- titatively important, as shown by the length of the transition period, and the difference between the short-run and long-run exchange rate elasticity of exports. Firms' expeca- tion on the permanence of the policy changes also matters.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Yanping, 2015. "Capital Adjustment Costs: Implications for Domestic and Export Sales Dynamics," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 529, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
  • Handle: RePEc:trf:wpaper:529
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bernabe Lopez‐Martin, 2022. "Firm Export Dynamics And The Exchange Rate: A Quantitative Exploration," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1137-1163, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International trade; heterogeneous firms; capacity constraints; capital adjustment costs; firm dynamics; firm panel data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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