Trade costs, firms and productivity

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bernard, Andrew B.; Jensen, J. Bradford; Schott, Peter K.
• 署名单位: Dartmouth College; National Bureau of Economic Research; Yale University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2006.05.001
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 917-937
• 关键词: plant deaths; survival; EXIT; exports; EMPLOYMENT; TARIFFS; freight costs; transport costs

摘要

This paper examines the response of U.S. manufacturing industries and plants to changes in trade costs using a unique new dataset on industry-level tariff and transportation rates. Our results lend support to recent heterogeneous-firm models of international trade that predict a reallocation of economic activity towards high-productivity firms as trade costs fall. We find that industries experiencing relatively large declines in trade costs exhibit relatively strong productivity growth. We also find that low-productivity plants in industries with falling trade costs are more likely to die; that relatively high-productivity non-exporters are more likely to start exporting in response to failing trade costs; and that existing exporters increase their shipments abroad as trade costs fall. Finally, we provide evidence of productivity growth within firms in response to decreases in industry-level trade costs. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.