Technology Adoption and the Selection Effect of Trade

Abstract

The reallocation of output across plants and the productivity growth at individual plants are both important sources of productivity growth at the industry level. Recent evidence has shown that trade liberalization is related to both effects. While a trade model with firm heterogeneity can account for the first effect, it can not explain the second effect. We add to this model the option for firms to costly adopt more productive technologies and show that plant productivity actually rises in response to lower trade costs. Following trade liberalization, selection into exporting raises the market share only for some exporters. Therefore, a greater scale of operation amplifies their return from costly productivity-enhancement investments and leads a greater proportion of them to implement a more innovative technology.