International Trade and Macroeconomic Dynamics with Heterogeneous Firms

49 Pages Posted: 17 Jun 2004 Last revised: 26 Oct 2022

See all articles by Fabio Pietro Ghironi

Fabio Pietro Ghironi

University of Washington

Marc J. Melitz

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: June 2004

Abstract

We develop a stochastic, general equilibrium, two-country model of trade and macroeconomic dynamics. Productivity differs across individual, monopolistically competitive firms in each country. Firms face a sunk entry cost in the domestic market and both fixed and per-unit export costs. Only relatively more productive firms export. Exogenous shocks to aggregate productivity and entry or trade costs induce firms to enter and exit both their domestic and export markets, thus altering the composition of consumption baskets across countries over time. In a world of flexible prices, our model generates endogenously persistent deviations from PPP that would not exist absent our microeconomic structure with heterogeneous firms. It provides an endogenous, microfounded explanation for a Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson effect in response to aggregate productivity differentials and deregulation. Finally, the model successfully matches several moments of U.S. and international business cycles.

Suggested Citation

Ghironi, Fabio Pietro and Melitz, Marc J. and Melitz, Marc J., International Trade and Macroeconomic Dynamics with Heterogeneous Firms (June 2004). NBER Working Paper No. w10540, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=556527

Fabio Pietro Ghironi

University of Washington ( email )

Department of Economics
Box 353330
Seattle, WA 98195-3330
United States
206-543-5795 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.washington.edu/ghiro

Marc J. Melitz (Contact Author)

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

Littauer Center
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-495-8297 (Phone)
617-417-6536 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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