We construct a dynamic monopolistic competition model with heterogeneous firms to study the links between firms’ earnings volatility, the degree of financial constraints that they face, their survival probabilities, and their export market participation decisions. Our model predicts that more...

This paper addresses a puzzle in China’s investment pattern: despite high aggregate investment and remarkable economic growth, negative investment is commonly found at the microeconomic level. Using a large firm-level dataset, we show that private firms divest in order to raise capital. We...

Does the availability of internal finance constrain firm growth? Or does it foster it? To answer these questions, we use a panel of 407,096 Chinese firms over the period 2000-2005. We estimate dynamic assets growth equations augmented with cash flow, and find that the growth of state owned...