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Barriers to firm growth in open economies

Author

Listed:
  • Piguillem Facundo

    (Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance, Roma, Lazio, Italy)

  • Rubini Loris

    (University of New Hampshire, Paul College of Business and Economics, 10 Garrison Ave,Durham, NH 03824, USA)

Abstract
Studies measuring barriers to firm growth assume economies are closed, ignoring information on firm exports. We argue that this information is key to interpreting data and improving the accuracy of model predictions. To do this, we develop a dynamic model with export and domestic barriers. We show theoretically that the closed economy model underestimates barriers and amplifies counterfactuals. By calibrating the model to a set of European countries, we find that the quantitative difference is significant: for example, the closed economy model fails to see that Italian firms are very efficient exporters but poor innovators, and instead concludes that they are mediocre innovators. In terms of predictions, the closed economy model delivers an elasticity of welfare to innovation costs between 31 and 64 percent larger than the open economy model.

Suggested Citation

  • Piguillem Facundo & Rubini Loris, 2019. "Barriers to firm growth in open economies," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-36, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejmac:v:19:y:2019:i:1:p:36:n:11
    DOI: 10.1515/bejm-2018-0003
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    Cited by:

    1. Colin Davis & Ken-ichi Hashimoto, 2019. "Innovation Offshoring with Fully Endogenous Growth," ISER Discussion Paper 1055, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    2. Joachim Wagner, 2015. "Firm age and the margins of international trade: Comparable evidence from five European countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(1), pages 145-158.
    3. Facundo Piguillem & Loris Rubini, 2021. "Do non‐exporters lose from lower trade costs?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1161-1185, November.
    4. Steinberg, Joseph B., 2019. "Brexit and the macroeconomic impact of trade policy uncertainty," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 175-195.
    5. Francesca Barbiero & Michael Blanga-Gubbay & Valeria Cipollone & Koen De Backer & Sébastien Miroudot & Alexandros Ragoussis & André Sapir & Reinhilde Veugelers & Erkki Vihriälä & Guntram B. Wolff & Ge, . "Manufacturing Europe’s future," Blueprints, Bruegel, number 795, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    firm dynamics; innovation and trade; pareto size distribution of firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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