Firms in International Trade

Andrew Bernard, J. Jensen (), Stephen Redding and Peter Schott

No 13054, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Despite the fact that importing and exporting are extremely rare firm activities, economists generally devote little attention to the role of firms when discussing international trade. This paper summarizes key differences between trading and non-trading firms, demonstrates how these differences present a challenge to standard trade models and shows how recent "heterogeneous-firm" models of international trade address these challenges. We then make use of transaction-level U.S. trade data to introduce a number of new stylized facts about firms and trade. These facts reveal that the extensive margins of trade -- that is, the number of products firms trade as well as the number of countries with which they trade -- are central to understanding the well-known role of distance in dampening aggregate trade flows.

JEL-codes: F1 F2 L1 L2 L6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-04
Note: ITI
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1445)

Published as Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen & Stephen J. Redding & Peter K. Schott, 2007. "Firms in International Trade," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 105-130, Summer.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Firms in International Trade (2007)
Working Paper: Firms in International Trade (2007)
Working Paper: Firms in International Trade (2007)
Working Paper: Firms in International Trade (2007)
Working Paper: Firms in international trade (2007)
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