MARKET ACCESS, INVESTMENT, AND HETEROGENEOUS FIRMS*

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Spearot, Alan C.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Santa Cruz
• 刊物名称: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0020-6598
• DOI: 10.1111/iere.12008
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 601-627
• 关键词: trade liberalization; mergers; IMPACT; export; size; FDI

摘要

This article presents a model of international trade in which heterogeneous firms can expand through capital acquisitions. I show that demand elasticities are a crucial element in predicting which firms invest, in what location, and for what reason. High-productivity firms, who tend to sell goods at a low elasticity, invest for market access (tariff jumping). Middle productivity firms, who tend to sell at a higher elasticity, invest for productivity improvement. The relative value of trade costs dictates which incentive is larger. In equilibrium, trade liberalization can reduce aggregate productivity by reducing an important source of investment demand: foreign firms.