Melitz, Marc J. and Ottaviano, Gianmarco I. P. (2008) Market size, trade, and productivity. Review of Economic Studies, 75 (1). pp. 295-316. ISSN 0034-6527
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
We develop a monopolistically competitive model of trade with firm heterogeneity—in terms of productivity differences—and endogenous differences in the “toughness” of competition across markets—in terms of the number and average productivity of competing firms. We analyse how these features vary across markets of different size that are not perfectly integrated through trade; we then study the effects of different trade liberalization policies. In our model, market size and trade affect the toughness of competition, which then feeds back into the selection of heterogeneous producers and exporters in that market. Aggregate productivity and average mark-ups thus respond to both the size of a market and the extent of its integration through trade (larger, more integrated markets exhibit higher productivity and lower mark-ups). Our model remains highly tractable, even when extended to a general framework with multiple asymmetric countries integrated to different extents through asymmetric trade costs. We believe this provides a useful modelling framework that is particularly well suited to the analysis of trade and regional integration policy scenarios in an environment with heterogeneous firms and endogenous mark-ups.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28... |
| Additional Information: | © 2008 Wiley-Blackwell |
| Divisions: | Economics Centre for Economic Performance |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor |
| JEL classification: | F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F12 - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Feb 2012 16:38 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Dec 2024 23:25 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/41961 |
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