Plant Level Evidence on Product Mix Changes in Chilean Manufacturing

Abstract

This paper analyzes changes in the product mix by Chilean manufacturing plants in the period 1996-2003. Three-quarters of the surviving plants changed the set of products produced and more than three-quarters of the exporting plants changed the mix of products they exported during the sample period. Plants that changed their product mix contributed 85% of the aggregate growth in real sales of surviving plants between 1996 and 2003. Finally and in contrast to the US evidence, there is a negative correlation between revenue per product and the number of products. Apart from this, new evidence consistent with recent models of multi-product heterogeneous firms and trade is provided.heterogeneous plants, multiple products, entry and exit, trade, development.