| This thesis comprises two studies of the effects of trade reforms on industry structure and performance.; In the first essay, I use a global competition model of international trade with heterogeneous firms to evaluate the impact of trade reforms that occurred in Chile at the end of the 70s. I compare the predictions of the calibrated model in terms of productivity, plant turnover, job and trade flows with what occurred in reality using a comprehensive plant-level panel dataset for the Chilean manufacturing sector. The model explains several effects of liberalization reforms on industry performance. In contrast to the previous studies I use a general equilibrium approach that allows fully quantifying and identifying the trade liberalization effects on the tradeable and nontradeable sectors. I proceed by performing a counterfactual experiment aimed at exploring the impact of preferential trade agreements negotiated by Chile with the EU and NAFTA.; In the second essay, I develop a dynamic monopolistic competition model with heterogeneous firms to analyze the effects of uncertainty on international trade. I characterize a stationary equilibrium, with multiple countries, where firms' productivities evolve stochastically over time. The model retains the main results of previous recent papers and provides additional new predictions. The model is mostly in closed-form and therefore amenable to estimation and simulation, representing a useful tool for analyzing the effects of trade policies. I provide initial evidence using plant-level data for Chile and Colombia to show the importance of the model. Several moments, like average age, size and productivity of different categories of firms (exporters, entrants, exiters, incumbents), the survivor function or transition matrices for productivity or export participation, are derived and can be used to match static and dynamic features of the data. The introduction of re-entry export costs generates hysteresis in export participation creating a band of coexistence within the stationary distribution of firms' productivities. I derive the density of exporters along the band of inaction: the solution technique used could prove useful to analyze other economic problems. |
