主持人： 喻    洋 副教授 上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时    间：  2026年1月4日（周日）14:00-15:30

地    点:  上海交通大学徐汇校区安泰经济与管理学院A507

内容简介：We study how firms’ productivity growth depends on the productivity of their suppliers and buyers and examine the aggregate implications of this form of learning. Using data on firm-to-firm transactions in Belgium, we document evidence consistent with learning from both suppliers and buyers, particularly from the most productive ones. To study the implications of this form of learning in general equilibrium, we develop a model in which firm productivity growth is shaped by the productivity of an endogenously formed network of suppliers and buyers, where firms bargain over the surpluses from trade and learning. Learning between suppliers and buyers increases bilateral trade volumes: suppliers charge lower markups when they learn more from buyers, and buyers have higher demand when they learn more from suppliers. We estimate a small open economy model with firms learning from both domestic and foreign trading partners. Quantitatively, we find that the value of learning is equivalent to 19 percent of aggregate consumption. Welfare gains from reductions in international trade participation costs are underestimated by over 7 percent without learning. Gains from trade are amplified when foreign partners are more productive through productivity catch-up and network upgrading, but are dampened when less productive foreign firms crowd out domestic learning and weaken incentives to form productive relationships.

演讲人简介：Xianglong Kong is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. Prior to joining Chicago, he worked as a Research Professional at the Becker Friedman Institute. He earned an M.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 2018 and a B.S. in Economics from the Central University of Finance and Economics in 2017. Xianglong’s research focuses on international trade, with additional interests in industrial organization, production networks, firm dynamics, and labor economics. His work has been published in economics journals such as Journal of International Economics and European Economic Review.