International Trade, Learning, and Firm Heterogeneity

Do firms in developing countries improve their performance through trading with developed countries? How can latecomer firms acquire technological capabilities through international technology diffusion? How do developing countries leverage comparative advantages to boost potential advantages of backwardness? These questions have been motivating research passing through macro-, meso- and recently micro-level analysis. This book investigates these questions at the micro-level both theoretically and empirically. It aims at understanding the heterogeneous performance of firms in learning as they adjust to the international trade. Special emphasis is placed on firms in emerging China as well as Central Asian and Eastern European economies.