FSS-DECO Seminar: Superstar Products by Superstar Exporters
Speaker: Prof. Sifan XUE, Assistant Professor, National School of Development, Peking University, China
Date: 5 March 2026 (Thursday)
Time: 14:00-15:15
Venue: E21A-G035
Language: English
Abstract: We show empirically that it is a firm’s superstar products, rather than its product scope or average product appeal, that make it a superstar exporter. These superstar products account for more than half of aggregate sectoral exports. We build a multiproduct firm model with endogenous firm-level investment that shapes the distribution of product appeal. Higher-ability firms invest more as they benefit more from such investments, and are therefore more likely to generate superstar products. The endogenous firm-level investment lead to heterogeneous aggregate bilateral trade elasticities and new sources of welfare changes in response to trade shocks.
