Firms, markets and trade costs: access of French exporters to European agri-food markets

From the French exporters point of view, the purpose of this article is to understand the extent by which the European (EU) market remains fragmented. Based on Chaneys model (Chaney, 2008) it is shown here that to enter the market, the firms productivity must be higher than the productivity threshold. Using accounting and trade firm data for the year 2004, the value of the threshold at entry to each EU country is explained and then the value exported to each market. The results of this study reveal that the heterogeneity of EU markets is due to geographic conditions, as also the remaining trade costs at entry to these markets.