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SummaryThe Ricardian and Heckscher‐Ohlin models of international trade contend that firms do not play any role in shaping countries' export specialization. However, the evidence shows that few firms dominate exports in many countries. This paper analyzes the relative contribution of fundamental (country) and granular (individual) comparative advantage to the differences in specialization across countries in a particular activity: chess. Using data on the quality of around 146,000 chess players in 106 countries in 2015, I find that fundamental comparative advantage is the main contributor to the variation in countries' specialization in chess. However, the contribution of granular comparative advantage becomes larger when analyzing specialization in very high‐quality chess players. Despite the appearance of chess servers that allow playing online and offer tools to improve chess skills, I do not find convergence in fundamental comparative advantage over the period 2001‐2015.

ABSTRACTThis paper analyses the relationship between export status and productivity in a major service exporter, Spain, during 2001–07. I find that exporters in the services sector are 45 percent more productive than non‐exporters. This productivity premium is larger for firms that supply non‐internet‐related services than for firms that supply internet‐related services. The results show that exporters were more productive than non‐exporters before beginning to export, and also that exporting increases productivity growth; however, this positive shock vanishes quickly.

According to recent studies, countries specialised in goods associated with high productivity levels grow faster than countries specialised in goods associated with low productivity levels. In this paper we analyse whether that relationship also takes place at the regional level. Using a unique, highly-disaggregated, regional trade database, we calculate the productivity level associated to Spanish provinces' exports and analyse whether provinces that latch on more productive exports have achieved higher rates of growth. Our results show that there is also a positive link between exports' productivity and growth at a regional level.

This paper estimates the tariff equivalent of the border barrier in each bilateral trade among European Union countries. The results show that there are large differences in the border barrier across European Union countries' bilateral trade. In some bilateral trade flows the border barrier has almost disappeared, whereas in other cases it is still equivalent to a 75 per cent tariff. The results also show that some countries have low border barriers in most of their bilateral trade flows with other EU members, whereas other countries persistently present large border barriers.

ABSTRACTThis paper uses highly disaggregated data to analyze the convergence process in product‐level relative productivity across Spanish provinces. Over the period 1988‐2013 there is a 53 per cent reduction in product‐level relative productivity differences across provinces. The speed of convergence in product‐level productivity is faster than in income per capita. Provinces that are geographically close, have strong ties and share similar factor endowments become more similar in product‐level relative productivities.

AbstractThis paper analyzes whether complexity, measured by the number of skilled tasks that are performed in production, explains countries' commodity trade structure. We modify the Romalis model to incorporate advantage differences in complexity across commodities together with differences in the number of mistakes made by workers in the production process in developed and developing countries as a source of comparative advantage. Our model predicts that the share of developed countries in world trade increases with products' complexity. Empirical tests confirm this prediction. Moreover, we find that complexity complements the explanation provided by skill‐intensity on countries' commodity trade structure.

"Die spanischen Importe von China haben sich im Zeitraum von 1999 bis 2007 versechsfacht und dieses asiatische Land zum viertgrößten Lieferanten für die spanische Wirtschaft gemacht. In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir, ob sich diese massive Zunahme der Importe aufgrund der Unterschiede bei der anfänglichen Spezialisierung der Produktion unterschiedlich stark auf die Arbeitsmärkte der einzelnen spanischen Provinzen ausgewirkt hat. Aus den Ergebnissen geht hervor, dass spanische Provinzen mit einem höheren Anteil chinesischer Importe einen stärkeren Rückgang des Beschäftigungsniveaus im produzierenden Sektor als Anteil an der Bevölkerung im arbeitsfähigen Alter verzeichneten. Allerdings wurde dieser Rückgang durch eine Erhöhung des Beschäftigungsniveaus im nicht-produzierenden Sektor ausgeglichen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

We use Spanish firm-level data over the period 1998-2018 to examine the importance of the top exporter in terms of NUTS III (provincial) exports. We find that: (1) the top exporter in each province represents about one fifth of total exports per year; (2) firms contribute to export growth whilst on their way towards the top position but once the latter is reached their growth contribution becomes marginal; and (3), shocks to the top exporter of a province explain the fluctuations in aggregate exports growth.