The literature on international trade and firm performance grows exponentially. This
paper attempts to summarize what we learn from this literature to guide both future
empirical and theoretical work in this area, and public debates and policy makers, in an evidence-based way. The focus is on the empirical part of the literature that
consists of recently published papers using data for firms from manufacturing or
services industries to study the links between international trade (exports and imports) and dimensions of firm performance (productivity, wages, profitability and
survival). It discusses recent add-ons to the box of tools for empirical investigation in this field and suggests topics for future research.