Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Topics
Data & Maps
Surveys & Programs
Resource Library
Accounting for Trade Patterns
Accounting for Trade Patterns
Working Paper Number CES-24-07
Abstract
We develop a quantitative framework for decomposing trade patterns. We derive price indexes that determine comparative advantage and the aggregate cost of living. If firms and products are imperfect substitutes, we show that these price indexes depend on variety, average appeal (including quality), and the dispersion of appeal-adjusted prices. We show that they are only weakly related to standard empirical measures of average prices. We find that 40 percent of the cross-section variation in comparative advantage, and 90 percent of the time-series variation, is accounted for by variety and average appeal, with less than 10 percent attributed to average prices.
Others in Series
Working Paper
Low-Wage Jobs, Foreign-Born Workers, and Firm Performance
We find that access to migrant workers through the H-2B visa program raises firm revenues and survival likelihood with limited crowd-out of incumbent workers.
Working Paper
The Rise of Specialized Firms
This paper finds that specialized firms have substantially increased their share of U.S. production and links this finding to rising concentration.
Working Paper
Scientific Talent Leaks Out of Funding Gaps
How do NIH grant funding delays affect research personnel's careers? We find a 3pp increase in not working in the US, and 20% decreased long run earnings.
Page Last Revised - February 7, 2024
✕
Is this page helpful?
Yes
No
Yes
No✕
NO THANKS
255 characters maximum
255 characters maximum reached
255 characters maximum reached
✕
Thank you for your feedback.
Comments or suggestions?
Comments or suggestions?
