Product quality and firm heterogeneity in international trade
本文利用美国制造业工厂的价格和数量数据，区分产品质量和技术效率对出口差异的影响，发现需求异质性（反映质量）与广告、工资和材料成本正相关，是决定出口选择和销售额的重要因素。
Abstract This paper quantifies the separate contributions of product quality and technical efficiency in explaining variation in export outcomes across US manufacturing plants. Unlike previous studies that rely on unit values, I estimate idiosyncratic demand from price and quantity information. I find substantial across‐plant heterogeneity in demand, and consistent with the quality interpretation, demand is positively correlated with advertising expenditures, wage rates and material costs. I use this variation to explain across‐plant heterogeneity in export outcomes. The results show that, in addition to productivity, idiosyncratic demand is an important determinant of selection into exporting and the levels of foreign sales.