Essays on International Trade and Firm Growth in Developing Countries

Abstract

In the three essays of my dissertation, I explore microeconomic issues related to the growth of exporters from developing countries. In the first two chapters, I examine the trade-off and complementarity between quality and productivity innovation from the perspective of firm growth. In Chapter 1, I propose a general framework of international trade by incorporating the possibility of both quality and productivity upgrading. Guided by the framework, in Chapter 2 I look for the mechanism behind a unique pattern of innovation among Chinese PV panel exporters. In the last chapter, my co-author Jie Bai and I study the question of how costly domestic trade barriers are to developing countries' exporters. In particular, we highlight a non-tariff domestic trade barrier in China as a result of VAT rebate policy reform and examine its impact to Chinese exporters.