Global Production with Export Platforms

摘要: Most international commerce is carried out by multinational firms, which use their foreign affiliates both to serve the market of host country and export other markets outside country. In this article, I examine determinants firms’ location production decisions welfare implications production. The few existing quantitative general equilibrium models that incorporate firms achieve tractability assuming away platforms—that is, they do not allow multinationals export—or ignoring fixed costs associated with investment. develop a quantifiable multicountry model, tractably handles engage in platform sales face first estimate model using German firm-level data uncover size nature enterprise show investment are large. Second, calibrate on trade for twelve European North American countries. Counterfactual analysis reveals play an important role transmitting technological improvements countries pending Canada-EU agreement could divert sizable fraction EU from U.S. Canada.