Contrary to the prevailing interpretation, this paper shows that the central models of trade with heterogeneous firms (<link>Melitz 2003</link>; <link>Bernard et al. 2003</link>) exhibit ambiguous predictions for the exporter productivity premium. This prospect arises because of differences between theoretical and...

In this paper the structure of intra-firm trade within the context of transfer price manipulation by a multinational firm is endogenized. "High" and "low" values of host-country tax rates give rise to intra-firm trade in final goods and intermediate inputs, and "intermediate" values of the tax...

In this paper the effect of voluntary imports expansions (VIEs) on welfare in a dynamic game is analysed. It is found that (1) there exists a Markov perfect Nash equilibrium (MPNE) and a unique stable steady state; (2) with habit formation in consumption, the welfare and output for each firm are...

This study develops a model of trade that highlights the effects of the interconnection of country-specific communications networks as a driving force behind trade in high-tech products with positive transport costs. By constructing a two-country model of monopolistic competition with two...

This paper shows that the issues in the recent discussion over the `home-market effects' are more complicated than previously thought. It is shown that, in general, market size matters for industrial structure even when both the homogeneous and the differentiated goods face transport costs. The...

A modern adaptation of the Ricardian model is used, which incorporates monopolistic competition and multiple factors to derive a MacDougall-type relation between a country's international competitiveness at the industry level and its productivity performance. This relation is implemented...

This paper uses a heterogeneousfirms model to examine the procompetitive channel through which FDI affects national welfare. The model shows that the country from which FDI originates experiences a welfare gain following liberalization. However, a counterintuitive finding is that the welfare of...

We develop a matching model of foreign direct investment to study how multinational firms choose between greenfield investment, acquisitions and joint ownership. Firms must invest in a continuum of tasks to bring a product to market. Each firm possesses a core competency in the task space, but...

This paper addresses welfare effects from trade liberalization in a Melitz (<link/>) heterogeneousfirms trade model including the empirically important perunit (i.e., additive) trade costs in addition to the conventional iceberg (i.e., multiplicative) and fixed trade costs. The novel contribution of...

A large fraction of affiliates owned by multinational manufacturing companies operate in the wholesale and retail sectors. This paper proposes a model of trade, horizontal FDI, and export-supporting FDI (ESFDI). ESFDI reduces distribution costs abroad, while production remains at home. ESFDI...