Firms and the Global Crisis: French Exports in the Turmoil

46 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2010

See all articles by Jean Charles Bricongne

Jean Charles Bricongne

Banque de France

Lionel Gérard Fontagné

Banque de France; CEPII; University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne; Paris School of Economics

Guillaume Gaulier

Banque de France

Daria Taglioni

World Bank, Development Economics

Vincent Vicard

Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Info. Internationales (CEPII)

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Date Written: September 15, 2010

Abstract

Global trade contracted quickly and severely during the global crisis. This paper, using a unique dataset of French firms, matching together export data with firm-level credit constraints, shows that most of the 2008-2009 trade collapse is accounted by the unprecedented demand shock and by product characteristics. While all firms have been evenly affected by the crisis, large firms did so mainly through the intensive margin and by reducing the portfolio of products offered in each destination served. Smaller exporters instead have been forced to reduce the range of destinations served or to stop exporting altogether. Credit constraints, on their part, emerged as an aggravating factor for firms active in sectors of high financial dependence. Nonetheless, as the share of credit constrained firms is small and their number did not increase much during the crisis, the overall impact of credit constraints on trade remains limited.

Keywords: Financial Crisis, Credit Constraints, International Trade, Firms’ Heterogeneity, Intensive And Extensive Margins

JEL Classification: F02, F10, G01

Suggested Citation

Bricongne, Jean Charles and Fontagné, Lionel and Gaulier, Guillaume and Taglioni, Daria and Vicard, Vincent, Firms and the Global Crisis: French Exports in the Turmoil (September 15, 2010). ECB Working Paper No. 1245, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1677495 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1677495

Jean Charles Bricongne

Banque de France ( email )

Paris
France

Lionel Fontagné

Banque de France ( email )

Paris
France

HOME PAGE: http://www.lionel-fontagne.eu/

CEPII ( email )

9 Rue Georges Pitard
Paris, 75015
France
+33 1 53 68 55 06 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://lionelfontagne.weebly.com/

Paris School of Economics ( email )

48 Boulevard Jourdan
Paris, 75014 75014
France
+33 1 44 07 89 94 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://lionelfontagne.weebly.com/

University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne ( email )

Maison des Sciences Economiques
106-112 Bd de l'Hôpital
Paris, 75013
France
+33 1 44 07 89 94 (Phone)
+33 1 53 68 55 01 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://lionelfontagne.weebly.com/

Guillaume Gaulier

Banque de France ( email )

Paris
France

Daria Taglioni

World Bank, Development Economics ( email )

Washington, DC 20433
United States

Vincent Vicard (Contact Author)

Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Info. Internationales (CEPII) ( email )

20, avenur de Ségur
Paris Cedex 07, F-75334
France

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