For research in economics and social sciences, it is always challenging to cope with the rapid pace of new global developments. Furthermore, international economics is faced with a need to consider non-economic drivers and effects of economic integration and to be open for multidisciplinary approaches. The goal of this dissertation is to close gaps in existing literature by contributing to both theoretical and empirical research on the role of firms in trade and the economics of cultural and institutional persistence. This dissertation consists of three essays, moving from short- to long-term analysis and from theoretical to empirical research. The overarching theme is the impact of disruptive transformations, such as a shock to countries’ resources, a shock of new technology-based business models or a demographic and institutional shock. Unfolding the different aspects of adjustment to such disruptions, I go from dynamic (short-run) responses to resource shocks, through the steady-state analysis of the digital economy, to the long-run impacts of changing institutions and forced migration. The first two essays further share the same theoretical perspective, as I focus on the role of firms in monopolistically competitive markets and show how the respective shocks affect the industrial structures. The third essay abstracts from this agent perspective to explore the insights that economic history can provide with respect to the long-lasting economic impacts of non-economic shocks.
