|
on International Activities of Firms |
| By: | Xiao Ma; Marc-Andreas Muendler; Alejandro Nakab |
| Abstract: | Export activity shapes workers’ experience-wage profiles. Using employer-employee and customs data for Brazilian manufacturing, we document that workers’ experience-wage profiles are steeper at exporters than at non-exporters and, among exporters, steeper at exporters shipping to high-income destinations. We develop and quantify a model featuring worker-firm wage bargaining, export-market entry by multi-worker firms, and human capital accumulation by workers to interpret the data. Human capital growth can explain one-half of the differences in wage profiles between exporters and non-exporters. We show that increased human capital per worker can account for one-half of the overall gains in real income from trade openness. |
| Keywords: | export activity, wage profiles, human capital accumulation |
| JEL: | E24 F12 F14 F16 J24 J64 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12350 |
| By: | Xiao Ma; Marc-Andreas Muendler; Alejandro Nakab |
| Abstract: | Export activity shapes workers’ experience-wage profiles. Using employer-employee and customs data for Brazilian manufacturing, we document that workers' experience wage profiles are steeper at exporters than at non-exporters and, among exporters, steeper at exporters shipping to high-income destinations. We develop and quantify a model featuring worker-firm wage bargaining, export-market entry by multi-worker firms, and human capital accumulation by workers to interpret the data. Human capital growth can explain one-half of the differences in wage profiles between exporters and non-exporters. We show that increased human capital per worker can account for one-half of the overall gains in real income from trade openness. |
| JEL: | E24 F12 F14 F16 J24 J64 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34580 |
| By: | Giorgio Chiovelli; Francesco Amodio; Serafín Frache |
| Abstract: | We show that commodity export booms can propagate up the value chain, reshape production networks, and promote growth in the service sector. We study Uruguay’s beef export boom to China in the 2010s, combining customs, firm-to-firm transactions, employer-employee, and balance sheet data. Firms more linked to exporters experienced higher sales, especially in services, with associated gains in employment, wages, and sales per worker. Aggregate sales rose by 1.79%, with each export dollar generating 46 more cents in domestic sales, 10 cents in services. Over time, service firms reoriented their connections toward beef exporters, amplifying their gains from trade. |
| Keywords: | commodity exports, production network, services, China shock. |
| JEL: | F14 L14 O14 O54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnt:wpaper:2505 |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim |
| Abstract: | The use of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, or smart devices will go hand in hand with higher productivity, higher product quality, and lower trade costs. Therefore, it can be expected to be positively related to export activities. This paper uses firm level data for manufacturing enterprises from the 27 member countries of the European Union collected in 2025 to shed further light on this issue by investigating the link between the use of advanced technologies and extensive margins of exports. Applying a new machine-learning estimator, Kernel-Regularized Least Squares (KRLS), which does not impose any restrictive assumptions for the functional form of the relation between margins of exports, use of advanced technologies, and any control variables, we find that firms which use more advanced technologies do more often export and do export to more different destinations. |
| Keywords: | Advanced technologies, exports, firm level data, Flash Eurobarometer 559, kernel-regularized least squares (KRLS) |
| JEL: | D22 F14 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kcgwps:334537 |
| By: | Talatchanant Tontiwachwutthikul; Kannika Thampanishvong; Kanis Saengchote; Krislert Samphantharak; Jirayu Chandrasakha |
| Abstract: | To mitigate the risk of carbon leakage, the European Union (EU) introduced the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to impose a fair price on the carbon emissions associated with the production of carbon-intensive goods imported into the EU, thereby encouraging cleaner industrial production. This paper combines firm-level exporting activity data and financial data in a difference-in-differences regression framework to examine the impact that the CBAM policy announcement and implementation have on Thai exporting firms. We find that the announcement of the CBAM negatively affected Thai firms' ability to export impacted goods to the EU, and these adverse effects intensified following the CBAM implementation. Treated firms’ total export revenue decreased relative to the control group and were only able to partially mitigate the impact of this shock by increasing exports of non-CBAM goods to countries outside of the EU. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM); Thailand, exporting firm; International trade |
| JEL: | F14 F18 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pui:dpaper:243 |
| By: | Tian, Xi; Cai, Chechen; Grant, Jason H.; Zhu, Jing; Xie, Chaoping |
| Abstract: | Attention toward quality has been exacerbated by the recent significant increase in the demand for high quality products. Among firms trading internationally, quality shocks about one firm’s products may damage the group’s reputation. The ongoing debate on how government interventions in food safety capacity can address these issues. This study examines the effectiveness of China’s Export Quality and Safety Demonstration (EQSD) program, a policy initiative designed to improve products’ quality in the agricultural sector by imposing strict regulations during domestic agri-food value chain. Utilizing firm-product-destination level data from 2009 to 2015, we employ a difference-in-differences approach to evaluate the program’s impact on exports. Our findings reveal that EQSD significantly enhances export performance, with heterogeneous effects across different ownership types, various products and counties. Furthermore, the program’s effectiveness is more pronounced in countries with better economic development, stricter regulations, or more homogeneity. We identify three key mechanisms driving these effects: cost reduction, quality improvement and trade facilitation. Surprisingly, we found that this export promotion policy also benefits industrial upgrading. This research contributes to the literature on export promotion, NTMs and industrial upgrading, offering valuable insights for policymakers in designing targeted interventions to boost agricultural exports amid complex global trade barriers. |
| Keywords: | International Development |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:361011 |
| By: | Benedikt Heid; Laura Márquez-Ramos; Harry Wardana |
| Abstract: | Industrial policy is on the rise. A key instrument used by governments is import licensing to protect domestic industries. However, evidence of its effectiveness is limited. Using customs and firm level data, we estimate the effects of the introduction of import licensing for iron and steel products in Indonesia in 2009. While we find that the number of incoming shipments of protected products is reduced, and that imports are sourced from fewer countries, the overall value or quantity of imports is not affected. At the same time, while domestic iron and steel producers increase their sales in the short run, we do not find long-lasting positive effects on their sales. Our results suggest that while import licensing imposes costs on importers who have to adjust their supply chains, sustained gains for domestic producers are limited. This suggests that import licensing is ineffective as an industrial policy. |
| Keywords: | trade restrictions, import licensing, industrial policy, Indonesia, iron and steel |
| JEL: | F13 F14 L52 L61 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12346 |
| By: | Macchiavello, Rocco (University of Warwick); Miquel-Florensa, Josepa (Toulouse School of Economics); de Roux, Nicolás (Universidad de los Andes); Verhoogen, Eric (Columbia University); Bernasconi, Mario (University of Basel); Farrell, Patrick (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | Do the returns to quality upgrading pass through supply chains to primary producers? We explore this question in the context of Colombia’s coffee sector, in which market outcomes depend on interactions between farmers, exporters (which operate mills), and international buyers, and contracts are for the most part not legally enforceable. We formalize the hypothesis that quality upgrading is subject to a key hold-up problem: producing high-quality beans requires long-term investments by farmers, but there is no guarantee that an exporter will pay a quality premium when the beans arrive at its mills. An international buyer with sufficient demand for high-quality coffee can solve this problem by imposing a vertical restraint on the exporter, requiring the exporter to pay a quality premium to farmers. Combining internal records from two exporters, comprehensive administrative data, and the staggered rollout of a buyer-driven quality-upgrading program, we find empirical support for the key theoretical predictions. The results are consistent with the hypotheses that quality upgrading can provide a path to higher incomes for farmers, but also that it is unlikely to be viable under standard market conditions in the sector. |
| Keywords: | buyer-driven voluntary standards, vertical restraints, relational contracts, quality upgrading |
| JEL: | O12 F61 L23 Q12 Q13 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18335 |
| By: | Sascha O. Becker; Hartmut Egger; Michael Koch; Marc-Andreas Muendler |
| Abstract: | This paper links globalization, worker efficiency, and wage inequality within plants to internal labor market organization. Using German plant-worker data and information on the task content of occupations, we document that larger plants (i) use more occupations, (ii) assign fewer tasks per occupation, and (iii) exhibit greater wage dispersion. We develop a model where plants endogenously bundle tasks into occupations, improving worker-task matching at the cost of higher fixed span-of-control costs. Embedding this into a Melitz framework, we show that trade increases worker efficiency and wage inequality in exporting plants, whereas non-exporting plants experience the opposite effects. Structural estimation and simulations confirm the model’s predictions and point to non-monotonic economy-wide effects. |
| JEL: | F12 F16 J30 L23 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34549 |