Foreign demand shocks,product switching,and export product quality: Evidence from China

Using Chinese customs data spanning from 2000 to 2013, we explore how foreign demand shocks in exporting markets impact product switching, factor adjustments, and export quality of Chinese exporting firms. We document that positive demand shocks would render firms to expand product scope by increasing the number of added varieties and decreasing the number of dropped varieties. In line with the expansion of product scope, firms adjust their factor reallocations by hiring more employees and producing in a more capital-intensive way when facing higher positive demand shocks. Higher capital intensity induces productivity improvement, and thus increases firms' export revenue, export price, and export-product quality. We also document that positive foreign demand shocks render firms to concentrate less on their core varieties by skewing their export sales away from the best performing products.     

The Impacts of Alignment with Global Product Standards on Exports of Firms in Developing Countries

Complying with global standards and technical norms can be costly, making them potential impediments to trade, but it can also expand export opportunities. Two policies available to governments are alignment of domestic technical regulations with international standards and entry into mutual recognition agreements (MRAs). We study the effects of such decisions on the volume of exports to developed markets by firms in developing countries, using data from a World Bank firm‐level survey of awareness of global product norms. Both standards alignment and MRAs are associated with more exports to developed countries, but only MRAs significantly promote exports. This finding is consistent with theoretical predictions that MRAs should reduce the fixed costs of exporting more than standards alignment, permitting more firms to enter export markets in higher volumes. Governments in developing countries hoping to encourage exports may wish to favour the negotiation of mutual recognition of testing and certification procedures with major trading partners as a more affirmative avenue to expanding international sales.     

Market knowledge: Evidence from importers

Previous firm‐level literature established that there are substantial costs of entry into new export markets. Chaney (The American Economic Review, 104, 2014, 3600) opens the black‐box of entry costs by building a dynamic network model of international trade where firms acquire customers in new destinations through their existing customers in other destinations. Following his conjecture, this paper examines whether firms use their existing suppliers in a destination to find their first clients in those markets. I use a disaggregated data set on Turkish firms' exports and imports for the 2003–08 period, and investigate the effect of import experience on export entry. By identifying import experience using instrumental variables, and shutting down productivity channels with firm‐year fixed effects, I find that having a supplier in the destination country raises the probability of starting to export to that country by 5.5 percentage points on average, revealing a “market knowledge” phenomenon. The paper's main contribution to the literature is finding that firms' country‐specific import experience increases the likelihood of export‐market entry. Digging further to explore heterogeneous effects, I find that this effect does not exist when trading with low‐income countries, but it increases with the destination country's size, proximity, language similarity and the size of its Turkish immigrant community. Moreover, the strength of the firm's relationship with its supplier as proxied by several variables such as the share of imported products that are differentiated increases the probability of export‐market entry.     

Food Safety Issues,Trade and WTO Rules: A Developing Country Perspective

The SPS Agreement and the related WTO dispute settlement mechanism are an important first step in strengthening the global trade architecture, bringing in greater transparency and orderly conditions to world food trade. However, implementation of the new trade rules has turned out to be a more complex task than the traditional market access issues handled by the WTO. Several factors, including inadequate financial and technical resources, have constrained devel‐oping countries from becoming effective participants in the implementation process, and there is widespread suspicion that SPS regulations are being used as hidden protectionist devices by developed countries. However, despite all the problems, some developing countries have been quite successful in penetrating developed country food markets; they have done so by accepting the consumer preferences and standards in quality‐sensitive high‐income markets and implementing domestic supply‐side measures. While making full use of available international assistance initiatives, developing countries should view the task of complying with SPS standards not just as a barrier but also as an opportunity to upgrade quality standards and market sophistication in the food export sector.     

技术壁垒对我国出口贸易的影响及我国的应对措施

我国是受技术壁垒影响最严重的国家之一,其原因是科学技术水平低、工业化程度差,我国出口产品质量难以达到发达国家相应的要求,同时国外信息采集力度不够造成的信息闭塞也加重了我国受技术壁垒的影响。政府方面应建立国外技术壁垒的预警机制,建立与国外权威认证机构的相互认可机制,加强参与国际标准化活动,积极采用国际标准;企业应完善质量认证体系,提高我国出口产品的竞争力,积极开发新的贸易市场,积极寻求与政府、行业协会以及与外国企业之间的协调与合作。     

贸易便利化对中国企业出口二元边际的影响

本文采用中国海关数据库和OECD编制的TFIs指数,从出口企业-目的地层面分析了出口目的地贸易便利化对中国企业出口二元边际的影响。研究显示:目的地贸易便利化的提升对中国企业出口额增长有显著的促进作用,但企业的出口增长是通过缩小出口产品种类数(扩展边际)、扩大产品平均出口额(集约边际)实现的。拓展分析表明:随着目的地贸易便利化水平的提升,小企业和加工贸易企业会更多地缩小出口产品种类;低收入经济体贸易便利化提升对中国企业出口扩展边际的消极影响更大。据此,企业应专业化、规模化地生产有比较优势的产品,不断提升自身生产率,积极应对贸易便利化带来的机遇和挑战。     

EU卫生标准对发展中国家渔业产品的影响及对策

欧盟对发展中国家渔业产品实施严格的卫生标准以及标准的多层次、复杂性和不统一形成了对发展中国家产品的技术性贸易壁垒,发展中国家为维持或拓展发达国家市场,付出了直接成本、间接成本、隐合成本和风险增加的代价.发展中国家可以通过产业共性技术研发在形成本国产业自主技术标准的基础上,与发达国家建立互认机制等来跨越TBT.     

World trade patterns and prices: The role of productivity and quality heterogeneity

This paper analyzes the role of product quality and labor efficiency in shaping the trade patterns and trade intensities within and across two groups of countries, the developed and richer North and the developing South. Recent empirical literature identifies two groups of evidence — the product lines evidence on different export strategies and sources of competitiveness across product groups and countries, and the aggregate trade flows evidence on a positive relation between the income per capita and both export and import prices (also conditional on the exporter). We attempt to provide a theoretical background for these findings and focus on the North–South productivity differences in a four country North–South trade model with two dimensions of firm heterogeneity. Differences in the firms' product quality and cost efficiency impose different competitiveness sources when entering more difficult markets and result in the observed export and import prices and consumption bundles across the rich and poor countries.     

International acquisitions and emerging market firms' performance—a structural contingency perspective

Entry modes have impact on firms' performance in international markets. Using an organizational structural contingency perspective, we assert that firms with mechanistic structure can enhance their performance in international markets if they choose acquisitions as an entry mode. Mechanistic structure limits organizations' learning capability, which can be managed through acquisitions but not through other entry modes such as joint ventures. For managing limitations associated with the poor knowledge absorption capability of mechanistically structured organizations, firms should not follow the standard integration procedures associated with acquisitions aiming to achieve economies of scale or scope. Rather, they should provide corporate parenting advantage to the newly acquired unit by (a) granting complete autonomy and (b) contributing required resources for future growth, thus treating the acquired business as a strategic business unit. Since mechanistic structures are more common in emerging markets, we explain our perspective using illustrative caselets from these markets.     

Financial factors and exporting decisions

Is financial health a determinant of export market participation? Is it an outcome? Using a panel of 9292 UK manufacturing firms over the period 1993–2003, we explore the links between firms' financial health and their export market participation decisions. We find that exporters exhibit better financial health than non-exporters. Yet, when we differentiate between continuous exporters and starters, we see that this result is driven by the former. Starters generally display low liquidity and high leverage, possibly due to the sunk costs which need to be met to enter export markets. Furthermore, we find no evidence that firms enjoying better ex-ante financial health are more likely to start exporting, and strong evidence that participation in export markets improves firms' financial health.     

Australian Exports of Dairy Products

Abstract

Exports of dairy products are becoming increasingly important in terms of export earnings for Australia. The industry is the fourth highest foreign exchange earner compared to all Australia's food exports. However, Australian exports of dairy products account for about 67 per cent of the total Australian production of dairy products, and about 13 per cent of total world exports of dairy products. About 68 per cent of Australian dairy products exports are sold on Asian markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenging issues and opportunities for Australian exports of dairy products on world markets and to identify potential and emerging export markets for Australian dairy products. Australia is highly restricted on its access to world dairy product markets by the impact of export subsidies and other trade barriers of overseas markets. The current economic and political crises in Asia are also not favourable to maintain export sales on some of the Asian markets. The export support scheme in Australia has made exporting attractive relative to domestic sales. But it is anticipated that the termination of the scheme after June 2000, will reduce production and exports by 6 and 20 per cent, respectively in the short run. However, in the long run, resources will be efficiently used without government intervention and Australian dairy products will also be competitive on the domestic market. There is scope for greater market opportunities in the emerging markets in Asia and other parts of the world for Australian dairy products. Australia will also benefit from the agreement on international trade that directs exporting countries to reduce export subsidy and remove nontariff trade barriers on exports of dairy products. Australia should implement appropriate measures to inaease the milk yield per cow, to improve the quality of dairy products and to identify the need for market promotion and research in order to increase the volume of dairy product exports on world markets, especially in Asia and other potential markets such as Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.     

我国农产品遭遇技术壁垒问题及对策

随着国际贸易中竞争的加剧,技术壁垒越来越多地成为了许多国家保护本国市场的手段,这种现象有愈演愈烈之势。我国的农产品在出口贸易中一直占据着优势,而且我国是农业大国,农产品出口关系着许多农业生产者的生存利益,但技术壁垒却对农产品出口造成严重阻碍,造成我国出口贸易受阻。如果要突破这种阻碍,必须深入了解技术壁垒影响农产品出口的主要形式和原因,以达到突破技术壁垒的目的。     

Export dynamics and sales at home

How do firms' sales interact across markets? Are foreign and domestic sales complements or substitutes? Using a French firm-level database combining balance-sheet and product-destination-specific export information over the period 1995–2001, we study how demand conditions in foreign markets affect domestic sales through variations in exports. We identify a number of exogenous shocks affecting the firms' demand on foreign markets, including product-destination specific imports or tariff changes, and large foreign shocks such as financial crises or civil wars. Our results show that exogenous variations in firm-level exports positively impact domestic sales, even after controlling for domestic demand conditions. A 10% exogenous increase in foreign sales generates a 1 to 3% increase in domestic sales in the short-run. This result is robust to various estimation techniques, instruments, controls, and sub-samples. It is also supported by the natural experiment of the Asian crisis in the late 1990's.     

Foreign sourcing and exporting

The aim of this paper was analysing the role of sourcing intermediate inputs internationally on export decisions and distinguishing whether intermediates are sourced from firms belonging to the same business group or from independent suppliers. To analyse firms' export decisions, we use a specification that also accounts for sunk costs and accumulated experience in export markets (i.e., export market learning). We consider that importing intermediates might have direct and indirect effects (operating through enhanced productivity) on the export participation decision. The direct effects on exporting are isolated once we control for productivity and the effects of belonging to an international group. We use a manufacturing panel data set drawn from the Spanish Survey on Business Strategies (ESEE) for the period 2006–14. Both productivity and inward or outward FDI increase the probability of exporting. Moreover, our results uncover the existence of sunk costs and export market learning, and also the relevant role played by intermediate imports in firms' export choices. Their effects act both through the (indirect) channel of enhancing firms' productivity and through a direct effect related to product upgrading, more competitive selling prices or learning from the firm's import experience.     

后危机时代绿色壁垒对河南省农产品出口的影响及对策

后危机时代绿色壁垒贸易保护主义又有新发展,表现在其实施范围扩大、实施形式增多、实施国增多和实施更加严格。河南省是农业大省,但农产品出口总量较低,出口产品以低附加值的初级产品和半成品为主,绿色贸易壁垒对其农产品出口带来严重不利影响,主要表现在缩减出口范围,减缓出口增速,影响出口市场的巩固与扩大,不利于开拓新兴市场等方面。为此,需要从政府与企业两个层面采取有效措施构建应对绿色贸易壁垒的政策体系。     

温州鞋业遭遇出口技术贸易壁垒的成因和对策

温州是中国制鞋基地之一，有“中国鞋都”之称，但由于发达国家设置越来越严格复杂的技术贸易壁垒而导致温州鞋业出口增长缓慢，甚至丧失了部分的国外市场。温州鞋业遭遇环境管理标准壁垒、环境保护标准壁垒、安全标志认证壁垒、生态标签认证壁垒和社会责任标准壁垒等。出口技术贸易壁垒既有内部原因也有外部原因。企业要积极应对，了解国际标准体系，增强环保安全意识，提高技术创新能力，转变企业经营策略，建立健全鞋业标准，积极实施标准认证，发挥机制保障作用，利用规则规避壁垒，保护自身权益。     

Entries and Exits in Foreign Markets: Italian Firms' Multinational Expansion in the European Union

This paper focuses on the expansion strategies in foreign markets of a sample of Italian firms during the period 1987-93. The data reveal strong dynamics in entry and exit strategies and an overall increase in Italian firms' foreign manufacturing activities. Firms seem to be restructuring and reorganising their range of activities in view of the new competitive scenario promoted by the completion of the Single European Market. A logit model investigating the determinants of entry in foreign markets is tested at the firm level. The results suggest that firms' specific resources, target industry and foreign country characteristics are important explanatory variables. Some new insights concerning the export substitution effect, the presence of technological sourcing and the multinational/ diversification dichotomy are also discussed.     

Assessing Trade Potential in Agricultural Sector of Iran: Application of Gravity Model

This article attempts to assess Iran's trade potential, explore over- and under-trade countries and determine factors affecting export development by using the gravity model. Seventy countries, which are considered the major markets for Iran agricultural products, are divided into 50 developing and 20 developed ones. By using panel data during the period when the export premium was submitted (2002–2005), Iran's agricultural exports were predicted. For this purpose, equations for each group of countries regressed by applying the augmented gravity model. Finally, the results were compared with actual figures. The results showed that Iran was more over-traded with developing countries relative to developed ones. This analysis helps us to determine the proper commercial direction, assess trade potential capacity and explore effective factors on export development such as export premium. Therefore, trade flows can be improved with under-trade countries and will be supported with over-trade ones through proper policies.     

The relationship between trade openness and economic growth: Some new insights on the openness measurement issue

Empirical results on the links between trade openness and economic growth often suggest that, in the long run, more outward‐oriented countries register better economic growth. However, a similar level of trade openness can hide different types of trade structures. The aim of this paper was to enrich the way of measuring trade openness taking into account two different dimensions of countries’ integration in world trade: export quality and export variety. Based on the estimation of an endogenous growth model on a panel of 169 countries between 1988 and 2014 using a generalised method of moments estimator, our results confirm that countries exporting higher quality products and new varieties grow more rapidly. More importantly, we find a non‐linear pattern between the export ratio and the quality of the export basket, suggesting that openness to trade may impact growth negatively for countries which are specialised in low‐quality products. A non‐linear relationship between export variety, the export ratio and growth is also found, suggesting that countries increasing their exports will grow more rapidly after reaching a certain degree of the extensive margin of exports.     

Trade and technology adoption

This paper endogenizes firms' choices of production technology in what would be a standard Melitz model otherwise. The responses of firms' productivity to trade liberalization are heterogenous: exporters, on average, improve their level of technology adoption, whereas nonexporters downgrade their level of technology adoption. The degree to which firms adjust production technology depends on domestic market size, export destination market size, trade impediments, and export status. The conflicting empirical results of the impact of trade liberalization on exporters' productivity are rationalized by showing that changes in different trade costs (variable vs. fixed costs) affect firms' productivity differently. We calibrate the model's parameters to match firms' characteristics in the global economy. The results indicate that endogenous productivity increases the gains from trade liberalization.