Title

Trade and Firm Heterogeneity In A Quality-Ladder Model of Growth

Abstract

The present paper explores the effect of trade liberalization on the level of productivity as well as the rate of productivity growth in an R&Dbased model with heterogeneous firms. We introduce new and plausible features that are absent in existing studies. First, technical progress takes the form of continual quality improvement of products over time. Second, firm entry and exit are endogenously determined due to creative destruction of products traded. In this framework, we demonstrate that a lower transport cost or export sunk cost unambiguously reallocates resources from non-exporting industries to R&D as well as exporting industries. This means that trade liberalization increases the level of manufacturing productivity and the rate of technical progress. These results are found to be robust in an extended model with population growth without scale effects. In extensions of the basic model, we also endogenize the ex ante distribution of firm heterogeneity and examine the effect of R&D subsidies.

Tetsugen HARUYAMA
Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University

Laixun ZHAO
Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration
Kobe University
Rokkodai-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe
657-8501 Japan
Phone: (81) 78 803 7036
Fax: (81) 78 803 7059