We present a North—South model of international trade in which differentiated products are developed in the North. Sectors are populated by final-good producers who differ in productivity levels. Based on productivity and sectoral characteristics, firms decide whether to integrate into the...

We develop a property-rights model of the firm in which production entails a continuum of uniquely sequenced stages. In each stage, a final-good producer contracts with a distinct supplier for the procurement of a customized stage-specific component. Our model yields a sharp characterization for...

I survey the influence of Grossman and Hart's (1986) “The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration,†94 Journal of Political Economy 691–719.) seminal paper in the field of International Trade. I discuss the implementation of the theory in...

I present new estimates of the elasticity of substitution between capital and labor using data from the private sector of the U.S. economy for the period 1948-1998. I first adopt Berndt’s (1976) specification, which assumes that technological change is Hicks neutral. Consistently with his...

The theory of international trade has paid scant attention to market institutions. Neither neoclassical theory nor new trade models typically specify the process by which supply and demand meet. Yet in the real world, intermediaries play a central role in materializing the gains from exchange...

We present a Northâ€South model of international trade in which differentiated products are developed in the North. Sectors are populated by finalâ€good producers who differ in productivity levels. On the basis of productivity and sectoral characteristics, firms decide whether to integrate...

This paper presents new estimates of total factor productivity growth in Britain for the period 1770–1860. We use the dual technique and argue that the estimates we derive from factor prices are of similar quality to quantity-based calculations. Our results provide further evidence,...

This paper studies the extensive and intensive margins of firms' global sourcing decisions. We develop a quantifiable multi-country sourcing model in which heterogeneous firms self-select into importing based on their productivity and country-specific variables. The model delivers a simple...

How do foreign interests influence the setting of policies by particular countries? What are the implications of such foreign influence? In this paper we develop a theory of foreign influence and apply it to the study of optimal tariffs. We develop a two-country probabilistic voting model of...