How Importers Hedge Demand Uncertainty Through Dual Sourcing and Safety Inventory

29th January 2025
KCG Secretary
Authors: Chris Muris, Horst Raff, Nicolas Schmitt and Frank Stähler (Canadian Journal of Economics, forthcoming)

We develop a dynamic model of inventory and trade to study how an importer may hedge demand uncertainty when importing involves an order lead time. We show that when the import cost is low, the importer optimally holds safety inventory, i.e., inventory of imported goods in excess of expected sales to deal with demand surges[...]

Digitalization Intensity and Extensive Margins of Exports in Manufacturing Firms from 27 EU Countries – Evidence from Kernel-Regularized Least Squares Regression

8th January 2025
KCG Secretary
Authors: Joachim Wagner (Economic Analysis Letters, 2024, 4(1): 22–29)

The use of digital technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, or smart devices can be expected to go hand in hand with higher productivity and lower trade costs, and, therefore, to be positively related to export activities[...]

KCG Working Paper No. 35: Urbanized and Savvy – Which African Firms are Making the Most of Mobile Money?

19th September 2024
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
Authors: Charles Ackah, Aoife Hanley, Lars Hecker, and Michael Kodom

Our analysis of over 500 Ghanaian firms sheds light, for the first time, on how certain firms managed to extract value from mobile money. Our regressions point to the usefulness of this form of cashless payments in stabilizing sales during the COVID pandemic[...]

Görg: Tariffs on electric vehicles from China will have significant negative impacts on the electrification transition of the European automotive industry

17th June 2024
KCG Secretary
Public Contributions
Public Contributions
In October 2023, the European Commission initiated an anti-subsidy investigation on imports of battery electric vehicles from China. On June 12, 2024 the Commission provisionally concludes the “electric vehicle value chains in China benefit from unfair subsidies”[...]

Cloud computing and extensive margins of exports: Evidence for manufacturing firms from 27 EU countries

8th May 2024
KCG Secretary
Authors: Joachim Wagner (Journal of Information Economics 2024 2(1): 102–111)

The use of cloud computing by firms can be expected to go hand in hand with higher productivity, more innovations, and lower costs, and, therefore, should be positively related to export activities. Empirical evidence on the link between cloud computing and exports, however, is missing[...]