Research in international trade has shifted from industry and country analysis to firm and product-level studies. The literature has stressed the role of firm-level heterogeneity, firm self-selection into exporting, and reallocation of resources within an industry in response to trade liberalisation. A better understanding of these mechanisms is key to economic policy and welfare analysis.
 
The workshop will investigate on the implication of heterogeneity in firms’ productivity, size and other economic characteristics for aggregate outcomes, such as trade flows and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), income volatility and employment.
 
Moreover, the workshop will compare the different responses of firms to macro-level shocks such as trade liberalisation, exchange rate adjustments, labor and tax policy. Given the important firm-level heterogeneity, one size fits all trade, labor or exchange rate policies might not be appropriate. The responses of firms might well be very different with respect to their sector of activity, their size, productivity, ownership or nationality.