Do Sunk Costs of Exporting Matter for Net Export Dynamics?

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 2007
Volume: 122
Issue: 1
Pages: 289-336

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Firms start and stop exporting. Previous research suggests that these export participation decisions alter the comovement of net exports with the real exchange rate. We evaluate these predictions in a general equilibrium environment. Specifically, assuming firms face an up-front, sunk cost of entering foreign markets, and a smaller period-by-period continuation cost, we derive the discrete entry and exit decisions yielding exporter dynamics in an open economy business cycle model. The model's business cycle exporter dynamics are consistent with that of U.S. exporters. However, in contrast to previous partial equilibrium analyses, model results reveal that export decisions have negligible aggregate effects.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:122:y:2007:i:1:p:289-336.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24