This paper documents for the first time the relationship between profitability and three typesof international trade activities – exports, imports and two-way trade. It uses unique newrepresentative data for manufacturing enterprises from Germany, one of the leading actorson the world market...

Reliable information on the characteristics of exporting and non-exporting firms is importantto guide theorists and policy makers in an evidence based way. This holds true especially forGermany, a leading actor on the world markets for goods and services. This paper makesthree contributions...

This study reports results from an empirical investigation of business services sector firmsthat (start to) export, comparing exporters to firms that serve the national market only. Weestimate identically specified empirical models using comparable enterprise level data fromFrance, Germany, and...

An emerging literature on international activities of heterogeneous firms documents thatexporting firms are more productive than firms that only sell on the national market. Thispositive exporter productivity premium shows up in a large number of empirical studies aftercontrolling for observed...

This paper considers labor market adjustments following a large import shock in the Germanclothing industry caused by the phasing out of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement. Using theGerman shoe industry as a control group and administrative data, we study adjustments onthe individual and firm level...

This paper uses unique new data for German manufacturing enterprises from matchedregular surveys and a special purpose survey to investigate the causal effect of relocation ofactivities to a foreign country on various dimensions of firm performance. Enterprises thatrelocated activities abroad in...

This paper uses an oligopoly model with heterogeneous firms to examine how an industryadjusts to rising import competition. The model predicts that in the short run the least efficientfirms in the industry become inactive, surviving firms face a fall in output, mark-ups andprofits, and the...