This paper explores the combined effects of reductions in trade frictions, tariffs, and firing costs on firm dynamics, job turnover, and wage distributions. It uses establishment-level data from Colombia to estimate an open economy dynamic model that links trade to job flows in a new way. The...

This paper uses a case study approach to explore the effects of NAFTA and GATT membership on innovation and trade in the Mexican soaps, detergents and surfactants (SDS) industry. Several basic findings emerge. First, the most fundamental effect of NAFTA and the GATT on the SDS industry was to...

Recent theoretical models of entry predict that, in the presence of sunk costs, current market participation is affected by prior experience. This paper quantifies the effect of prior exporting experience on the decisions of Colombian manufacturing plants to participate in foreign markets. It...

It is a mistake to think of productivity growth as an orderly shift in the production function of the representative plant. Gradual processes of technological diffusion or the displacement of inefficient plants with efficient ones are what matter. Trade orientation may affect these processes...

Recientes modelos teóricos de entrada predicen que, en presencia de costos hundidos, la participación en el mercado se afecta por la experiencia previa. Este estudio cuantifica el efecto que tienen las experiencias pasadas de exportación en las decisiones que toman las plantas manufactureras...

This article analyzes plant-level panel data from Chile and Colombia to assess how manufacturers might respond to carbon taxes and other policies that induce substitution between clean and dirty fuels. Is producer flexibility linked with sector of activity, capital vintage, or rates of new...

The reallocation of resources, either across sectors or across producers within a sector, can serve as a potential source of productivity growth. New research findings exploit comprehensive microeconomic data on the manufacturing sectors of Chile, Colombia, and Morocco to document resource...