Prof. Kalina Manova, Ph.D.

Credit Constraints, Heterogeneous Firms, and International Trade

Financial market imperfections severely restrict international trade flows because exporters require external capital. In a frequently cited paper, Kalina Manova identifies and quantifies the three mechanisms through which credit constraints affect trade: the selection of heterogeneous firms into domestic production, the selection of domestic manufacturers into exporting, and the level of firm exports. Financially developed economies export more in financially vulnerable sectors because they enter more markets, ship more products to each destination, and sell more of each product. These results have important policy implications for less developed nations that rely on exports for economic growth but suffer from weak financial institutions.

Ms. Manova’s research explores three themes in international economics: global value chains and firm production networks; firm productivity, innovation, and management practices; and financial frictions in international trade and investment. She looks forward to presenting her work and meeting with research scholars at LMU and CESifo during her visit.

Kalina Manova is Professor of Economics at University College London. She obtained her Bachelor, Master and PhD in Economics from Harvard University, and previously taught at Stanford, Princeton, and Oxford. She serves on the editorial boards of the Review of Economic Studies, the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, and previously Journal of International Economics. She is research fellow or affiliate at CESifo, CEPR, LSE CEP and IGC, and has been External Consultant at Bank of England and Inter-American Development Bank.