The literature has paid very little attention to a potential positive endogenous nexus between trade globalization and political liberalization. In this paper, I apply a structural approach to investigate two-way causality between the two based on the gravity trade theory, using data from a...

This paper examines why credit constraints for domestic and exporting firms arise in a setting where banks do not observe firms' productivities. To maintain incentive-compatibility, banks lend below the amount needed for first-best production. The longer time needed for export shipments induces...

Recent studies have suggested that accession to GATT/WTO is a complex, difficult, and lengthy process, and such process has lengthened in recent years. Using survival analysis, we find that the applicant's political regime has a significant impact on the time it takes to accede to GATT/WTO. In...

Recent Melitz-type (2003) intra-industry heterogonous trade models argue that a firm's productivity has significant effects on the firm's exports. This paper examines how a firm's credit constraints as well as its productivity affect its export decisions. We imbed the firm's credit constraints...

The Sah-Stiglitz "Economics of Price Scissors" model on the political economy of price scissors derives the optimal terms of trade against peasants. In the present paper, by extending this model to an open economy and allowing agricultural rationing, we first check if the model stands up to...

This paper provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of the effects of one-sided tariff cuts on firms' export product scope. The theoretical model explicitly incorporates cost of management in addition to the commonly used production cost. Firms are heterogeneous in terms of managerial...

With mounting interest in the interaction between trade and imperfectly competitive labor markets, this paper proposes a novel product quality upgrading mechanism to link the two. This paper extends the Melitz model by incorporating monopsonistically competitive labor markets and firms'...

This paper examines why credit constraints for domestic and exporting firms arise in a setting where banks do not observe firms' productivities. To maintain incentive-compatibility, banks lend below the amount needed for first-best production. The longer time needed for export shipments induces...

In 2005, China abated its fixed exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and began to appreciate the Renminbi (RMB). In this paper, I explore the effect of the appreciation of the RMB on imports to the U.S. from China by augmenting the gravity model with the exchange rate. Using an industrial panel...