Using the approach suggested by Gabaix (Econometrica 2011) this paper demonstrates that idiosyncratic shocks in the largest firms are important for an understanding of aggregate volatility in German manufacturing industries. The implications of this finding for theoretical and empirical research...

We argue that economics – as the scientific method of analyzing trade-offs – can be helpful (and may even be indispensable) for assessing the trade-off between intergenerational and intragenerational justice. Economic analysis can delineate the “opportunity set” of politics with respect...

This study tests whether the KombiFiD sample can be regarded as a high quality data set for empirical research on enterprises from manufacturing industries. It performs an empirical investigation using the original data in a first step and replicates exactly this investigation using the KombiFiD...

This study presents the first investigation into the performance of foreign - controlled enterprises in German manufacturing based on new micro - data from official statistics. A comprehensive set of performance variables was examined not only by comparing unconditional mean values but also by...

Export-led growth has gained considerable prominence as a model for economic development since its use by East Asian newly industrializing countries. Thus, the question of how it can be used by other countries wishing to industrialize and under what circumstances it can lead to the take-off of...

This paper contributes to the literature on international firm activities and firm performance by providing the first evidence on the link of productivity and both exports and foreign direct investment (fdi) in services firms from a highly developed country. It uses unique new data from Germany...

We study how human preferences affect the resilience of economies that depend on more than one type of natural resources. In particular, we analyze whether the degree of substitutability of natural resources in consumer needs may give rise to multiple steady states and path dependence even when...

This paper documents the relationship between firm survival and three types of international trade activities - exports, imports and two-way trade. It uses unique new representative data for manufacturing enterprises from Germany, one of the leading actors on the world market for goods, that...

The literature on international trade and firm performance grows exponentially. This paper attempts to summarize what we learn from this literature to guide both future empirical and theoretical work in this area, and public debates and policy makers, in an evidence-based way. The focus is on...