In this paper, we develop a model to illustrate the effects of credit constraints on changes in organizational form and firm entry. We find net borrowers to have a greater incentive to specialize in producing fragments within the production process when internal finance plays an important role (the specialization effect). Moreover, such credit constraint-induced specialization encourages the entry of new firms (the entry effect). When the entry effect dominates the specialization effect, total output is greater under fragmentation, which is contrary to the conventional wisdom that fragmentation may lead to the double-marginalization problem and reduce output.
Firm heterogeneity is mostly discussed in the literature from the viewpoint of productivity differential. In contrast this paper recognizes wealth heterogeneity as an important factor that results in firm heterogeneity. The issue of wealth heterogeneity and export incentive through credit market imperfection over the life cycle of a firm remains largely unaddressed in the literature. This paper studies the dynamics of wealth heterogeneity and export incentive of credit rationed firms through asset building. The theoretical and empirical results indicate that an increase in the initial level of competition implies greater export incentive. However, over the life cycle of a firm, the role of competition is impacted by the intensity of capital accumulation and the initial level of wealth. Greater local competition before the entry of firms in the export market hurts export incentive by limiting cash flows and asset build up. Thus low profits due to competition allows firms to look for export opportunities but lower cash flows hurt such incentives.
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