Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Income Distribution, International Trade And Foreign Direct Investment With Heterogeneous Firms, Feifei Wang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the factors that firms take into consideration when they decide in which manner to expand internationally (i.e. foreign direct investment and international trade). Another component of the investigation focuses on what types of firms benefit the most and what are the associated benefits with expanding internationally.

I investigate self-selection and learning-by-exporting hypothesis by applying matched sampling techniques and non-structural econometric models. Using a Chinese firm-level dataset, I find that firms that start exporting are more productive than non-exporting ones. Additionally, in most industries exporters become more productive in time.

I then investigate how income inequality leads firms …