Temporary trade and heterogeneous firms

► Using Hungarian firm-level export data we study short term- or temporary trade. ► We model endogenous choice between variable and sunk cost trade technologies. ► We create a filter to show one third of export spells are short-lived, or temporary. ► Firms with low productivity, high capital cost will likely trade at temporary fashion. ► Farther location, smaller GDP of destination countries induces temporary trade.