We study the impact of techies—engineers and other technically trained workers—on firm-level productivity. We first report new facts on the role of techies in the firm by leveraging French administrative data and unique surveys. Techies are STEM-skill intensive and are associated with...

This paper examines the relationship between the credit constraints faced by a firm and the unit value prices of its exports. The paper modifies Arkolakis's (2010) model of trade with heterogeneous firms by introducing endogenous quality and credit constraints. The model predicts that tighter...

This study of regional South-South (S-S) trade and cooperation in East, South and South-East Asian countries (ESSEA) aims to provide an economic rationale for S-S trade; shed some light on the extent and pattern of S-S trade in the ESSEA region; examine the dynamic forces behind the expansion of...

The liberalization of trade in Textiles and Clothing (T&C) had substantial adverse effects on the Greek T&C industry. The elimination of export quotas affected production levels, exports, prices and employment in the sector. Using past research results we explore how the MultiFiber Agreement...

This paper explores the effect of natural resource dependence on market concentration of imports. Using a new panel database for importing firms in developing and emerging market economies, the paper shows that higher natural resource dependence is associated with larger market concentration of...

Which products are potentially produced together? When demand for a product increases, which firms will supply it? Using multi-product production patterns within and across firms, we recover a continuous cost-based distance between firms and unproduced products. Higher product distance implies...

Italy ranked last in terms of manufacturing productivity growth according to OECD estimates over the last decade with a flat, if not declining, trend. In this work we investigate the underlying firm-level dynamics of enterprises on the grounds of a database developed by the Italian Statistical...

Using firm level data this study investigates the relation between export activity and firm's profitability. The paper shows that, contrary to other performance indicators such as productivity, exporting activity is not systematically associated to higher firm's profitability. This is shown both...

The article summarises the main lessons of the Bank’s 2010 conference which focused on international trade and foreign direct investment. The research is based on a microeconomic approach to the behaviour of Belgian firms, with reference to developments in the scientific literature on the...

Malawi became eligible under AGOA in October 2000 to increase its bilateral trade with USA. AGOA was originally implemented to expire in 2008 but was later extended to 2015. Critical data analysis however suggests that Malawi has benefitted less from the AGOA initiative. Various studies have...