The assessment: Firm-level adjustment to globalization

In recent years, analysts of globalization processes, such as trade and cross-border investment, have shifted attention away from countries and industries to firms and individuals. This shift has been stimulated by new theories of firm-level adjustment and growing access to the kind of micro-level data-sets needed to explore empirically aspects of micro-level adjustment. Firm-level decisions to globalize, either through exporting or by setting up an affiliate overseas, have been a fertile area for both research and policy evaluation. The impact of these choices on productivity has been especially close scrutinized.