Productivity and the Decision to Import and Export: Theory and Evidence

This paper develops an open economy model with heterogeneous final goods producers who simultaneously choose whether to export their goods and whether to use imported intermediates. The model highlights mechanisms whereby import policies affect aggregate productivity, resource allocation, and industry export activity along both the extensive and intensive margins. Using the theoretical model, we develop and estimate a structural empirical model that incorporates heterogeneity in productivity and shipping costs using Chilean plant-level data for a set of manufacturing industries. The estimated model is consistent with the key features of the data regarding productivity, exporting, and importing. We perform a variety of counterfactual experiments to assess quantitatively the positive and normative effects of barriers to trade in import and export markets. These experiments suggest that there are substantial aggregate productivity and welfare gains due to trade. Furthermore, because of import and export complementarities, policies which inhibit the importation of foreign intermediates can have a large adverse effect on the exportation of final goods.exporting, importing, firm heterogeneity, aggregate productivity, resource allocation

Industry Restructuring, Mark-ups, and Exchange Rate Pass-Through

Consumer prices are not very responsive to movements in nominal exchange rates and their response has fallen in Canada since the mid 1980s. This paper explores two of the most likely explanations for this decline in exchange rate pass-through to consumer prices: (1) lower inflation and (2) restructuring in the retail sector. We believe that both explanations are important but our primary focus in this paper is on the second explanation. We discuss the restructuring that has occurred in Canadian retail and trends in mark-ups and concentration in that sector. We argue that to understand these trends, it is important to examine pass-through in industrial organization models with strategic elements. Finally, we present a series of such models and evaluate the effects of various forms of restructuring on mark-ups, concentration, and exchange rate pass-through.Pass-Through, Restructuring, Strategic Pricing, Mark-ups, Exchange Rates, Imperfect Competition

Real Exchange Rate Fluctuations and the Dynamics of Retail Trade Industries on the U.S.-Canada Border

Consumers living near the U.S.-Canada border can shift their expenditures between the two countries, so real exchange rate fluctuations can act as demand shocks to border areas' retail trade industries. Using annual county-level data, we estimate the effects of real exchange rates on the number of establishments and their average payroll in border counties for four retail industries. In three of the four industries we consider, the number of operating establishments responds either contemporaneously or with a lag of one year to real exchange rate movements. For these industries, the response of retailers' average size is less pronounced. The rapid response of net entry is inconsistent with any model of persistent deviations from purchasing power parity that depends on retailers' costs of changing nominal prices.

Real exchange rates and retail trade on the U.S.-Canada border

Foreign exchange rates ; Retail trade

Real exchange rate fluctuations and the dynamics of retail trade industries on the U.S.-Canada border

Consumers living near the U.S.-Canada border can shift their expenditures between the two countries, so real exchange rate fluctuations can act as demand shocks to border areas' retailers. Using annual county-level data, we estimate the effects of real exchange rates on the number of establishments and their average employment in border counties for four retail industries. In three of the four industries we consider, the number of operating establishments responds either contemporaneously or with a lag of one year, so long-run changes in net entry in fact occur quickly enough to matter for short-run fluctuations.Foreign exchange rates ; Retail trade

Assimilation, Theory, Policy and Practice : The Native Welfare Council\u27s Experiment in Preparing Aboriginal Families at Allawah Grove for Assimilation 1961-1968

In the late 1950s, a community of Aboriginal people had formed a camp at ‘Allawah Grove\u27 in South Guildford, Perth. The public and the Western Australian Government considered them a nuisance, and wished to remove them from the area. But in 1960, a voluntary organization known as the Native Welfare Council offered to provide the Allawah Grove residents with supervision, housing and training. Their aim was to equip residents with the knowledge and skills that would enable them to live successfully as nuclear families in mainstream society. In the 1960s Aboriginal welfare policy was informed by social assimilation theory. Governments believed that providing Aboriginal people with the same opportunities that mainstream Australians enjoyed would allow them to achieve equality with the rest of the community. The Native Welfare Council\u27s view was that for Aboriginal people to be able to take advantage of these opportunities, they required training. So, they translated the government\u27s assimilation policy into practice at Allawah Grove providing residents with training in an encouraging, non-institutionalised environment. Allawah Grove residents were given the option of attending adult education classes and had their own representative body- the Allawah Grove Progress Association. To prepare Aboriginal people for living as a nuclear family in mainstream society, male residents were taught skills for employment and female residents learnt homemaking and childcare skills. For various reasons, training for female residents was more \u27successful\u27 than training for male residents. This disrupted the functional nature of the nuclear family, and thereby reduced the residents\u27 ability to live successfully in mainstream society. The Council\u27s aim had been to use Allawah Grove to prepare Aboriginal people for living in mainstream society. But the majority of Allawah Grove residents did not see their future in mainstream society, instead envisaging living permanently as an Aboriginal community at Allawah Grove

The Effect of Voice Gender and Spoken Messages in Augmented Interactions

A speech-generating device is often implemented to aid communication for those with limited ability to produce mouth speech. Although these devices have come a long way since their initial development, there are still pervasive problems regarding augmentative and alternative (AAC) technology. These problems include communication rate, intelligibility of the synthesized voice, and the effectiveness of the synthesized speech to transfer information for a variety of interactions. Additionally, the device is responsible for portraying unique information about the augmented speaker, including their competence, individuality and identity. This investigation sought to contribute to efforts aimed at understanding the impact of computer-generated voice output in routine social interactions. Using an iPad and an AAC mobile application, the primary investigator approached 6 novel communication partners and engaged in an interaction under 3 conditions. These conditions included female speech output, male speech output, and a speech-off function. Findings suggest limited differences between gendered speech output and suggest that the speech-off condition is more efficient for information seeking interactions. More research is needed on synthesized voices to address these issues and determine future directions for AAC technology