The Origin of Movement (OM) series is unique data documenting the destination of state exports by subsector. A datum indicates the state an export begins its journey, not the production location (OP). Newer OM data have not been examined to determine if they represent OP. I describe the collection, dissemination, and limitations of the OM data. I perform diagnostic tests to asses how effectively the OM data represent OP. Results indicate the OM data are usable for OP, though there are idiosyncratic subsectors and states, and systematic differences distinguishing the OM from OP.

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Forty US states operated an overseas office in 2002. Treating overseas offices as sales offices, the model assumes offices facilitate exports by reducing the transaction cost of selling abroad. From theory, states operate an office if aggregate savings outweigh operating costs. Exploiting the differences in where states locate offices in the data, and controlling for aggregate characteristics, the paper estimates the impact of exports on the probability of an office existing. In addition, the average state savings from an office is 0.04–0.10% of exports, with a cut‐off threshold of US$850 million.

For horticultural commodities, labor is necessary for post-harvest activities such as management, marketing, packing, and distribution. We create a model with pre-and post-harvest tasks and transportation network to study how a shortage in the pre-harvest labor market affects the post-harvest labor market and downstream commodity markets. Parameterized to U.S. pome and prunus industries, we find output prices are 16% greater, the prunus industry does less well adjusting, and producers benefit despite output reductions. Producers' benefit comes almost exclusively from higher prices, but decreases when the resulting post-harvest labor shortage increases spoilage along the transportation network.

The pattern of U.S. state exports to foreign destinations-which states export which goods to which destinations-has not been studied in detail despite the high profile of exports in the public consciousness. Currently there is not a unified description of facts characterizing exports for all states, destinations, and manufacturing subsectors. I combine research methods from plant-or firm-level and country-level empirical international trade on a cross section of state export data to list nine stylized facts. I also compare some of these facts to those in Eaton, Kramarz (2004, 2010) to show what differs.JEL Classification: F12, F13, R12, R38