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on International Activities of Firms |
| By: | De Lucio, Juan (Universidad de Alcalá. Pza. San Diego, s/n, 28801, Alcalá de Henares (Spain)); Mínguez, Raúl (Cámara de Comercio de España and Universidad Antonio de Nebrija. Calle de Santa Cruz de Marcenado, 27, 28015, Madrid (Spain)); Minondo, Asier (Corresponding author. Deusto Business School, University of Deusto, Camino de Mundaiz 50, 20012 Donostia – San Sebastián (Spain)); Requena, Francisco (Departamento de Economía Aplicada II, Universitat de València, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)) |
| Abstract: | Between June 2022 and October 2024, Algeria imposed a politically motivated embargo on imports from Spain. Because neither the imposition of the embargo nor its lifting was anticipated by Spanish firms, this episode provides a quasi-natural experiment to estimate the causal effect of a sudden market shutdown on subsequent export behavior. We interpret this causal effect as evidence on export hysteresis, i.e., the degree to which exporting fails to resume because of market-specific frictions. We show that the embargo reduced the post-embargo probability of exporting to Algeria by 34%. However, this negative effect is smaller than the impact of an observationally equivalent situation in which a firm simply does not export to a market for two and a half years in the absence of an embargo. This finding suggests that studies relying on non-experimental variation may overstate the effect of export hysteresis on the probability of exporting. We also show that the embargo’s negative effects continued even one year after it was lifted. Finally, we find that the largest decrease in the probability of exporting occurred in firms with a large pre-embargo market share and long export experience in Algeria. |
| Keywords: | export hysteresis, embargo, sunk entry costs in exporting, customer accumulation frictions, market experience, Spain, Algeria |
| JEL: | F10 F14 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2603 |
| By: | Yu Ji; Cong Peng; Wei Tian; Yiqun Zhuang |
| Abstract: | The paper estimates the causal effect of short-term export credit insurance (ECI) on firm exports in a major developing economy. Using data from China's policy-oriented export credit insurer matched to customs and tax records, we exploit quasi-random variation in insurance availability generated by buyer-level credit ceilings and a first come, first served allocation rule. Combining propensity score matching with an instrumental variables strategy, we find that a 1% increase in insured export value raises total exports by about 0.225%. ECI also expands export scope, increasing the number of exported products and the likelihood of entering new destination markets, while leaving unit values largely unchanged. The effects are significantly stronger for smaller and private firms, exporters in financially constrained cities, and shipments to riskier destinations, and were amplified during the global financial crisis. Back-of-the-envelope calculations imply sizable social returns, suggesting that short-term ECI can be an effective trade finance instrument for promoting export-led growth in developing economies. |
| Keywords: | short-term export credit insurance, export, trade finance, trade policy |
| Date: | 2026–03–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2163 |
| By: | Flora Bellone (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France; OFCE, Sciences Po, France); Charlie Joyez (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France); Xavier Poulet-Goffard (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France) |
| Abstract: | The OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative, adopted in 2015, introduced country-by-country reporting (CbCR) obligations for multinational groups with consolidated turnover above €750 million. This paper examines whether the reform generated unintended behavioral responses among smaller firms below the reporting threshold. Using firm-level data on French multinationals from OFATS, FARE, and DIANE (2007, 2009, 2014–2022), we estimate difference-in-differences models in a linear probability framework with firm and year fixed effects. We focus on restructuring at the extensive margin, distinguishing entry into and exit from tax-haven jurisdictions. Firms below the threshold significantly increase their probability of opening tax-haven affiliates after 2016, the year CbCR started to be enforced in Europe, while larger firms become more likely to exit. The results are robust to alternative tax-haven definitions and to excluding firms near the cutoff. Heterogeneity analyses show that the post-reform entry in tax havens is concentrated among financially structured small MNEs. Overall, the findings suggest that targeted transparency reforms can reallocate tax-haven activity across the firm size distribution rather than uniformly reduce it. |
| Keywords: | tax avoidance; multinational enterprises; BEPS; country-by-country reporting; tax havens; firm heterogeneity |
| JEL: | F23 H26 H32 K34 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2026-10 |
| By: | Nuriye Melisa Bilgin; Ester Faia; Gianmarco Ottaviano |
| Abstract: | We examine how upstream firms' technology adoption affects the performance and adoption decisions of downstream partners. Using business-to-business data with administrative records on advanced technology adoption, we find gains in productivity, performance, adoption probabilities of firms connected to the adopter, relatively to those that are not. Identification combines staggered event studies, balanced panels of pre-existing relationships, and recentering methods to address expected exposure within the network. Gains vary along firm size, centrality, technology quality, but do not systematically increase with input exposure, suggesting that knowledge spillovers may induce organizational adjustments. Adoption by competitors is associated with short-run negative effects. |
| Keywords: | technology diffusion, adoption and propagation, firm networks, firm productivity, imported inputs |
| Date: | 2026–03–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2157 |
| By: | Robert Stehrer (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | Struktur und Dynamik von Firmen und Produkten im österreichischen Außenhandel This publication is available in German language only. For a brief English summary see further below. Die Export- und Importbeziehungen Österreichs unterliegen einem ständigen Wandel, der auf makroökonomischer Ebene meist als Wachstum nach Warengruppen, Branchen und Partnerländern betrachtet wird. Hinter diesen aggregierten Entwicklungen verbergen sich jedoch komplexe mikroökonomische Dynamiken auf Firmenebene. Diese betreffen die Struktur und Veränderung der Handelsaktivitäten einzelner Unternehmen, ihre Markt- und Produktkonzentration sowie die Charakteristika der gehandelten Produkte, die in dieser Studie detailliert untersucht werden. Zentrale Fragestellungen sind folgende Wie viele Firmen sind im Außenhandel aktiv? Mit wie vielen Produkten und auf wie vielen Märkten handeln sie? Wie lange bestehen Export- und Importbeziehungen? Zudem wird die Konzentration der Unternehmen auf bestimmte Produkte und Länder analysiert. Darauf aufbauend erfolgt eine Untersuchung der Handelsdynamik entlang des ‚intensiven Randes‘ (Veränderung bestehender Beziehungen) und des ‚extensiven Randes‘ (Neuaufnahme oder Aufgabe von Handelsbeziehungen sowie Ein- und Austritte von Firmen). Ergänzend werden ökonometrische Analysen zur Performance der Firmen durchgeführt, insbesondere in Bezug auf Größe, Produktivität und die Qualität ihrer Exporte. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Identifikation potenzieller Importabhängigkeiten nach Produkten und Ländern über die Zeit. Die Studie bietet damit einen umfassenden Überblick über die mikroökonomische Struktur und Dynamik des österreichischen Außenhandels und schafft eine Grundlage für weiterführende Analysen. Structure and dynamics of companies and products in Austrian foreign trade Austria’s export and import relations are subject to constant change, which at the macroeconomic level is usually viewed in terms of growth by product group, industry, and partner country. However, these aggregate developments conceal complex microeconomic dynamics at the company level, such as those related to the structure and change in the trading activities of individual companies, their market and product concentration, and the characteristics of the products traded. While examining these dynamics in detail, this study asks the key questions How many companies are active in foreign trade? How many products do they trade and in how many markets? How long have export and import relationships existed? In addition, the concentration of companies on specific products and countries is analysed. Based on this, trade dynamics along the ‘intensive margin’ (change in existing relationships) and the ‘extensive margin’ (new establishment or abandonment of trade relationships as well as entries and exits of companies) are investigated. In addition, econometric analyses of company performance are carried out, particularly with regard to the size, productivity, and quality of their exports. Another focus is on identifying potential import dependencies by product and country over time. The study thus provides a comprehensive overview of the microeconomic structure and dynamics of Austrian foreign trade and creates a basis for further analysis. |
| Keywords: | Firmenanalyse von Außenhandelsbeziehungen, extensiver und intensiver Rand, Produktqualität, Firmenperformance, Importabhängigkeiten |
| JEL: | D22 F14 L60 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:ratpap:rpg:34 |