@TechReport{CEPII:2013-10,
author={Cristina Mitaritonna and Zhanar Akhmetova},
title={A Model of Firm Experimentation under Demand Uncertainty: an Application to Multi-Destination Exporters},
year=2013,
month=April,
institution={CEPII},
type={Working Papers},
url={http://www.cepii.fr/CEPII/fr/publications/wp/abstract.asp?NoDoc=5854},
number={2013-10},
abstract={Firm level data exhibits that new exporters tend to start small, a large fraction of these drops out by the second year of exporting, and the survivors expand rapidly. To take into account this stylized fact, we propose a theory of firm behavior that assumes demand uncertainty about the profitability of exporting in a new market. The firm can postpone paying the sunk cost of full-scale entry and test the market by observing individual sales to a few consumers. The firm optimally chooses the experimentation intensity, as well as the exit/entry policy. Applying Bayesian econometric techniques, we structurally estimate the model using French firm-level export data. A given geographical regions is viewed as a target market,and countries within the region as consumers. The estimate of the sunk cost is higher than in a model where the sunk cost cannot be postponed, like Melitz (2003). We also perform counterfactual simulations (exchange rate, sunk cost and experimentation cost).},
keywords={Demand Uncertainty ; Optimal Experimentation ; Heterogeneous Producers ; New Exporter Dynamics ; Structural Estimations}
}