Recent developments in trade theory, especially research on multi-product firms, have not been matched by similar progress on the empirical front. This paper aims to fill this gap by presenting a novel set of stylized facts on firm-product dynamics observed during an export boom. This exercise...

Policymakers often test expensive new programs on relatively small samples. Formally incorporating informative Bayesian priors into impact evaluation offers the promise to learn more from these experiments. A Colombian government program which aimed to increase exporting was trialed...

This paper uses data on the near universe of job adverts posted online in the US to study the impact of the 2018 trade war on US job opportunities. It develops measures of labor market exposure to three key channels of impact from the trade war: import protection for US producers, the higher...

The COVID-19 pandemic has struck businesses across the globe with unprecedented impacts. The world economy has been hit hard and firms have experienced a myriad of challenges, but these challenges have been heterogeneous across firms. This paper examines one important dimension of this...

Relying on a novel dataset covering more than 120,000 firms in 60 countries, this paper contributes to the debate about policies to support businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. While governments around the world have implemented a wide range of policy support measures, evidence on the reach...

Digital technology offers the potential to lower the costs of delivering business training, and to enable it to be scaled across a wide geographic area. But there are questions about how feasible such training is for entrepreneurs running microenterprises in developing country settings, as well...

This report aims to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between technology, economic growth, and equity by analyzing the impact of technological progress on firm-level productivity, market concentration, and labor market outcomes of workers with different education levels. The...

This paper assesses whether there is a gender gap in the use of financial services by businesses and individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors do not find evidence of gender discrimination or lower inherent demand for financial services by enterprises with female ownership participation or...

Using a novel dataset with transactions level exports data from four African countries (Malawi, Mali, Senegal and Tanzania), this paper uncovers evidence of a high degree of experimentation at the extensive margin associated with low survival rates, consistent with high and middle income country...

Numerous studies worldwide have highlighted the important contribution made by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to employment, income and economic growth. In a study of 76 developed and developing economies, Ayyagari and others (2007) found that SMEs account for more than 60 percent of...