“…Existing research documents that trade liberalization has significant effects on firm behavior and performance through an increase in competition. Notably, trade liberalization stimulates firm innovation, productivity, and efficiency, while helping to lower product prices and firm costs, thereby affecting firm markups (Saggay, Heshmati, and Dhif 2007;Mazumder 2014;Edmond, Midrigan, and Xu 2015;De Loecker and others 2016). Trade liberalization is, thus, usually a major element of product market and competition reforms.…”