Heterogeneous Firms and Trade

Marc J. Melitz, Stephen J. Redding

NBER Working Paper No. 18652
Issued in December 2012
NBER Program(s):International Trade and Investment

This paper reviews the new approach to international trade based on firm heterogeneity in differentiated product markets. This approach explains a variety of features exhibited in disaggregated trade data, including the higher productivity of exporters relative to non-exporters, within-industry reallocations of resources following trade liberalization, and patterns of trade participation across firms and destination markets. Accounting for these empirical patterns reveals new mechanisms through which the aggregate economy is affected by trade liberalization, including endogenous increases in average industry and firm productivity.

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Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w18652

Published: Handbook of International Economics Volume 4, 2014, Pages 1–54 Handbook of International Economics Cover image Chapter 1 – Heterogeneous Firms and Trade ☆ Marc J. Melitza, b, c, Stephen J. Reddingb, c, d

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