Gains from Trade when Firms Matter

Measurable Dynamic Gains from Trade

Dynamic Selection and the New Gains from Trade with Heterogeneous Firms∗

This paper develops an open economy growth model in which firm heterogeneity increases the gains from trade. Technology spillovers from incumbent firms to entrants cause the productivity threshold for firm survival to grow over time as competition becomes tougher. By raising the profits of exporters, trade increases the entry rate and generates a dynamic selection effect that leads to higher gr...

The Redistribution of Trade Gains When Income Inequality Matters

How does a redistribution of trade gains affect welfare when income inequality matters? To answer this question, we extend the [1] model to unionized labor markets and heterogeneous workers. As redistribution schemes, we consider unemployment benefits that are financed either by a wage tax, a payroll tax or a profit tax. Assuming that welfare declines in income inequality, we find that welfare ...

Volatility, Insurance, and the Gains from Trade∗

By reducing the negative correlation between local prices and productivity shocks, trade liberalization changes the volatility of returns. In the context of agriculture in developing countries—where production is risky, producers are risk averse, and insurance markets are incomplete—this change in volatility may have large welfare effects. In this paper, we empirically, analytically, and quanti...

Transboundary Pollution and the Gains from Trade

We analyse the effects of transboundary pollution on trade patterns and welfare in a general equilibrium trade model. Production in a dirty industry generates pollution that negatively effects productivity, both at home and abroad, in a clean industry. Trade may lead to the spatial separation of production but the existence of transboundary pollution can offset the benefits from specialization....