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Fixed Export Cost heterogeneity, Trade and Welfare

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  • Schröder, Philipp J.H.
  • Jørgensen, Jan G.

Abstract

Recent literature on the workhorse model of intra-industry trade has explored heterogeneous cost structures at the firm level. These approaches have proven to add realism and predictive power. This paper presents a new and simple heterogeneous-firms specification. We develop a symmetric two-country intra-industry trade model where firms are of two different marginal costs types and where fixed export costs are heterogeneous across firms. This model traces many of the stylized facts of international trade. However, we find that with heterogeneous fixed export costs there exists a positive bilateral tariff that maximizes national and world welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Schröder, Philipp J.H. & Jørgensen, Jan G., 2007. "Fixed Export Cost heterogeneity, Trade and Welfare," MPRA Paper 7397, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:7397
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    Cited by:

    1. Churen Sun & Guoqiang Tian & Tao Zhang, 2013. "Special Issue. Guest Editor: Zhihao Yu," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 494-509, August.
    2. Bauer, Christian & Davies, Ronald B. & Haufler, Andreas, 2014. "Economic integration and the optimal corporate tax structure with heterogeneous firms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 42-56.
    3. Matthew Cole, 2011. "Not all trade restrictions are created equally," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(3), pages 411-427, September.
    4. Ronald Davies & Lourenço Paz, 2011. "Tariffs versus VAT in the presence of heterogeneous firms and an informal sector," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 18(5), pages 533-554, October.
    5. Pflüger, Michael P. & Russek, Stephan, 2010. "Trade and Industrial Policies with Heterogeneous Firms: The Role of Country Asymmetries," IZA Discussion Papers 5387, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Philipp J. H. Schröder & Allan Sørensen, 2014. "A Welfare Ranking of Multilateral Reductions in Real and Tariff Trade Barriers when Firms are Heterogenous," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 423-443, August.
    7. Michael Pflüger & Stephan Russek, 2011. "Trade and Industrial Policies with Heterogeneous Firms: The Role of Country Asymmetries," Working Papers 094, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    8. Akgündüz, Yusuf Emre & Bağır, Yusuf Kenan & Cılasun, Seyit Mümin & Kırdar, Murat Güray, 2023. "Consequences of a massive refugee influx on firm performance and market structure," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    9. Gabriel Felbermayr & Benjamin Jung, 2012. "Unilateral Trade Liberalization in the Melitz Model: A Note," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(2), pages 1724-1730.
    10. Philipp J.H. Schröder & Allan Sørensen, 2012. "Second thoughts on the exporter productivity premium," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1310-1331, November.
    11. Sanne Hiller, 2014. "The Export Promoting Effect of Emigration: Evidence from Denmark," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 693-708, November.
    12. repec:wsr:wpaper:y:2011:i:070 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Michael Pflüger & Stephan Russek, 2014. "Trade and Industrial Policies with Heterogeneous Firms: The Role of Country Asymmetries," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 170-188, February.
    14. Ronald B. Davies & Benjamin H. Liebman & Kasaundra Tomlin, 2015. "I've Been Everywhere (Except Mexico): Investor Responses to NAFTA's Cross-Border Trucking Provisions," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp467, IIIS.
    15. Matthew T Cole & Ronald B Davies, 2009. "Optimal Tariffs, Tariff Jumping, and Heterogeneous Firms," Working Papers 200919, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    16. Cole, Matthew T. & Davies, Ronald B., 2011. "Strategic tariffs, tariff jumping, and heterogeneous firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 480-496, May.
    17. Philipp J.H. Schröeder & Allan Sørensen, 2009. "Second Thoughts on Exporter Productivity," Economics Working Papers 2009-03, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    18. Shintaku, Koji, 2015. "Heterogeneous Fixed Export Costs and the Division of Labor," MPRA Paper 64655, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 25 May 2015.
    19. Emami Namini, Julian, 2014. "The short and long-run impact of globalization if firms differ in factor input ratios," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 37-64.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intra-industry trade; trade liberalization; monopolistic competition; heterogeneous firms; welfare; protectionism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation

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