Organizational Form and Trade Liberalization: Plant-Level Evidence
利用美国普查的工厂数据，研究发现相比独立企业，集团企业在贸易自由化后更倾向于重组，聚焦核心业务并提升生产率和产品市场表现，且组织形式影响贸易政策的效果。
This paper studies how firms’ internal organization shapes the impact of international trade. Using establishment-level data from the U.S. Census and a difference-in-difference specification, I find that, relative to standalone firms, conglomerates are more likely to restructure after trade liberalization episodes, focusing on their core competency and improving firm productivity and product market performance. Adjustments through the extensive margin account for the majority of the productivity growth differential between conglomerates and standalones experiencing trade shocks. Aggregate industry productivity remains relatively unchanged in industries dominated by conglomerates’ core business but decreases significantly in others. My findings suggest that firms’ internal organization has important consequences on the effects of trade policies. This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.