From Micro to Macro: Aggregate Implications of Firm-Level Heterogeneity in International Trade

Objetivo

What determines the patterns of international trade and the associated welfare effects? Can individual
incentives to trade diverge from societal objectives? Should governments intervene to promote or restrict
international transactions? Questions like these have recently gained new salience, in Europe and elsewhere,
due to renewed protectionist pressures and resurgent nationalistic tendencies arising from diffuse
disenchantment with globalization.
The aim of the research project is to highlighting key dimensions along which the answers to these questions
obtained from conventional trade models with homogenous firms should be revisited in the light of
permanent pervasive firm heterogeneity. In particular, the project will pursue four specific objectives through
four integrated work packages providing new insights on how firm heterogeneity affects: (1) the ability of
markets to deliver allocative efficiency; (2) The design of optimal multilateral trade policies; (3) The
comparative advantages of countries; (4) The capabilities of a country as an exporter.
The first work package will investigate whether the allocative inefficiency (“misallocation”) determined by
firm heterogeneity in the presence of pricing distortions is quantitatively relevant for a country’s aggregate
economic performance, and whether economic integration reduces or exacerbates such misallocation. The
second work package will develop the theoretical implications of firm heterogeneity for trade policy, with
special emphasis on the cooperative design of optimal multilateral trade agreements aimed at maximizing the
joint welfare of all trade partners. The third work package will study how country, sector and firm
characteristics interact to determine countries’ responses to trade liberalization. The fourth work package
will investigate the distinct role of firm heterogeneity in determining a country’s ability to export through the
shape of the productivity distribution of its producers.