The Margins of Global Sourcing: Theory and Evidence from U.S. Firms

Pol Antràs and Felix Tintelnot
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Pol Antras and Teresa C. Fort

No 10310, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: 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 closed-form solution for firm profits as a function of the countries from which a firm imports, as well as those countries' characteristics. In contrast to canonical models of exporting in which firm profits are additively separable across exporting markets, we show that global sourcing decisions naturally interact through the firm's cost function. In particular, the marginal change in profits from adding a country to the firm's set of potential sourcing locations depends on the number and characteristics of other countries in the set. Still, under plausible parametric restrictions, selection into importing features complementarity across markets and firms' sourcing strategies follow a hierarchical structure analogous to the one predicted by exporting models. Our quantitative analysis exploits these complementarities to distinguish between a country's potential as a marginal cost-reducing source of inputs and the fixed cost associated with sourcing from this country. Counterfactual exercises suggest that a shock to the potential benefits of sourcing from a country leads to significant and heterogeneous changes in sourcing across both countries and firms.

Keywords: Complementarities; Extensive margin; Global sourcing; Heterogeneous firms; Importing; Productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C63 D21 D22 F12 F23 F61 L11 L16 L23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (53)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Margins of Global Sourcing: Theory and Evidence from US Firms (2017)
Working Paper: The Margins of Global Sourcing: Theory and Evidence from U.S. Firms (2017)
Working Paper: THE MARGINS OF GLOBAL SOURCING: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM U.S. FIRMS (2014)
Working Paper: The Margins of Global Sourcing: Theory and Evidence from U.S. Firms (2014)
Working Paper: The Margins of Global Sourcing: Theory and Evidence from U.S. Firms (2014)
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