Productivity and Firm Selection: Quantifying the “New” Gains from Trade

Gianmarco Ottaviano, Gregory Corcos, Massimo Del Gatto and Giordano Mion

No 2009.115, Working Papers from Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei

Abstract: We discuss how standard computable equilibrium models of trade policy can be enriched with selection effects without missing other important channels of adjustment. This is achieved by estimating and simulating a partial equilibrium model that accounts for a number of real world effects of trade liberalisation: richer availability of product varieties; tougher competition and weaker market power of firms; better exploitation of economies of scale; and, of course, efficiency gains via the selection of the most efficient firms. The model is estimated on E.U. data and simulated in counterfactual scenarios that capture several dimensions of European integration. Simulations suggest that the gains from trade are much larger in the presence of selection effects. Even in a relatively integrated economy as the E.U., dismantling residual trade barriers would deliver relevant welfare gains stemming from lower production costs, smaller markups, lower prices, larger firm scale and richer product variety. We believe our analysis provides enough ground to support the inclusion of firm heterogeneity and selection effects in the standard toolkit of trade policy evaluation.

Keywords: European Integration; Firm-level Data; Firm Selection; Gains from Trade; Total Factor Productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F12 R13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cmp, nep-eff and nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Productivity and Firm Selection: Quantifying the ‘New’ Gains from Trade (2012)
Working Paper: Productivity and firm selection: quantifying the ‘new’ gains from trade (2011)
Working Paper: Productivity and Firm Selection: Quantifying the "New" Gains from Trade (2009)
Working Paper: Productivity and Firm Selection: Quantifying the "New" Gains from Trade (2009)
Working Paper: Productivity and firm selection: quantifying the "new" gains from trade (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fem:femwpa:2009.115

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