Microdynamics of Turkey's Export Boom in the 2000s

This paper examines the microdynamics behind the dramatic export boom experienced by Turkey during the 2000s. Using disaggregated exporter‐level customs data covering the universe of export transactions for Turkey during the period 2002–11, we characterise firm‐level dynamics in the export sector and we decompose export growth at the aggregate, sectoral and destination market levels to identify the role of firm turnover, destination turnover and product turnover. We show that year‐to‐year aggregate export growth is dominated by growth in continuous exporters, and for these, growth is dominated by exports to their continued destinations and of their continued products. However, the observed high degree of churning across firms, destinations and products accounts for a substantial part of Turkey's export growth over longer periods. The patterns of microdynamics of export growth are verified across sectors and across groups of destination markets with some exceptions regarding exports to new emerging markets where net exporter entry plays a more critical role for export growth over longer periods.     

Trade liberalization, wage inequality, and endogenously determined nontraded goods

We examine the boundary between traded and nontraded goods as a channel for trade to impact factor prices. In a two-country, two-factor, continuum-good model, tariffs generate a range of nontraded goods. A tariff reduction has a direct effect to expand a country’s import set and an indirect effect through terms of trade to expand its export set. We show that the export expansion can dominate the import expansion, raising the relative demand for the factor intensively used in production. The result is useful in explaining observed rising wage inequality in developing countries following trade liberalization.     

A longitudinal study of the relationship between export activity and innovation in the Spanish firm: The moderating role of productivity

Does innovation lead the firm to export more products, or does a firm's export propensity induce it to innovate? How does a firm's productivity level change this relationship? After confirming that exporters develop more innovations than non-exporters, this study attempts to answer these questions by studying two effects. First, we analyse the impact of innovation on a firm's export activities while addressing potential endogeneity concerns. Second, we examine the impact of export activity on a firm's innovation performance. We must address both questions when considering firm productivity. To this end, we conduct a longitudinal analysis of 14,142 observations of an annual average of 1767 Spanish firms within the manufacturing sector during the period from 2001 to 2008. The results suggest that the self-selection hypothesis adequately explains the observed phenomena. That is, innovation induces firms to increase their export activities. This finding is robust to endogeneity. Nevertheless, firms do not experience any learning-by-exporting effects on the obtaining of product or process innovations. Productivity does not modify any of these relationships.     

On the role of retaliation in trade agreements

This paper analyzes the role of retaliation in trade agreements. It shows that, in the presence of private information, retaliation can always be used to increase the welfare derived from such agreements by the participating governments. In particular, it is shown that retaliation is a necessary feature of any efficient equilibrium.We argue that retaliation would not be necessary if governments could resort to international transfers or export subsidies to compensate for terms-of-trade externalities. Within the current world trading system, though, in which transfers are seldom observed whereas export subsidies are prohibited, the use of the remaining trade instruments in a retaliatory fashion might be optimal. The model is used to interpret the retaliatory use of antidumping observed in the last decades, and the proliferation of these measures relative to other trade remedies.     

Ghanaian exporters’ international experience and performance: the mediating role of export commitment

The existing literature provides mixed findings regarding the impact of international experience on export performance. One of the reasons for these mixed findings could be the intervening mechanisms that influence international experience – export performance relationships. We examine one factor, namely export commitment. Drawing from the resource-based view, we examine how the interaction between international experience and export commitment enhances export performance. Based on a sample of 116 Ghanaian exporting firms, the findings suggest that export commitment significantly mediates the association between international experience and export performance. We make two key contributions: first, we provide understanding of how international experience contributes to export performance – through enhancing export commitment. Second, we provide evidence from an under researched geographical context, namely Ghana. Thus, we extend the existing literature to sub-Saharan African countries.     

The effect of matching on perceived export barriers and performance in an era of globalization discontents: Empirical evidence from UK SMEs

In this study we examine the effect of matching, a comprehensive networking concept, on the perceived export barriers and export performance of small exporting firms. We introduce matching as a moderating variable affecting the link of perceived internal/external export barriers to export performance. Using a sample of 106 UK-based exporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), we find that matching alleviates the negative impact of perceived internal export barriers on export performance. Furthermore, the empirical results show that export experience and export commitment reduce managers' perceived internal and external export barriers. The study shows that matching, as a networking-tool at multiple levels, can help to overcome export barriers, thus providing a mechanism to offset challenges opened up through nationalistic policies.     

How does the geographic export diversification–performance relationship vary at different levels of export intensity?

We argue that the relationship between geographic export diversification and firm performance follows an S-curve relationship if export intensity is low and an inverted U-shape if export intensity is high. The S-shape curve occurs because firms have weaker incentives to deploy the resources needed for succeeding in foreign markets if they generate relatively low revenues in export markets compared to their domestic market. Firms highly committed to export markets, in contrast, face stronger incentives to accelerate their learning curve, which results in an inverted U-shape relationship. We examine our hypotheses using a panel of longitudinal archival data with over 2000 firm-year observations, which cover all of the possible export destination countries served by large Brazil-based exporters from 2001 to 2010. Our results imply that the degree of export intensity changes the cost-benefit relationship of geographic export diversification.     

Establishment heterogeneity,exporter dynamics,and the effects of trade liberalization

We study the effects of tariffs and iceberg trade costs in a two-sector dynamic variation of the Melitz (2003) model extended to include a sunk cost of exporting, establishment-level uncertainty in productivity, capital accumulation, and material usage. We calibrate the model to match both cross-sectional and dynamic aspects of US producers related to export participation and the establishment lifecycle. We find a tariff equivalent of fixed export costs of 30 percentage points. We also find that a sizeable share of export profits is a return to the organizational capital from investing in export capacity rather than creating an establishment. We use the model to estimate the effect of reducing tariffs on welfare, trade, and export participation. We find that eliminating an 8 percent tariff increases the ratio of trade to GDP from 3.9% to 7.4% and raises welfare by 1.02%. Along the transition, consumption overshoots its steady state, even as trade and the capital stock grow gradually, so that the change in steady state consumption understates the welfare gain. Models without a dynamic export decision generate more gradual aggregate transition dynamics and smaller gains from trade. Capital accumulation and material usage are important sources of the welfare gains to trade.     

Establishment heterogeneity,exporter dynamics,and the effects of trade liberalization

We study the effects of tariffs and iceberg trade costs in a two-sector dynamic variation of the Melitz (2003) model extended to include a sunk cost of exporting, establishment-level uncertainty in productivity, capital accumulation, and material usage. We calibrate the model to match both cross-sectional and dynamic aspects of US producers related to export participation and the establishment lifecycle. We find a tariff equivalent of fixed export costs of 30 percentage points. We also find that a sizeable share of export profits is a return to the organizational capital from investing in export capacity rather than creating an establishment. We use the model to estimate the effect of reducing tariffs on welfare, trade, and export participation. We find that eliminating an 8 percent tariff increases the ratio of trade to GDP from 3.9% to 7.4% and raises welfare by 1.02%. Along the transition, consumption overshoots its steady state, even as trade and the capital stock grow gradually, so that the change in steady state consumption understates the welfare gain. Models without a dynamic export decision generate more gradual aggregate transition dynamics and smaller gains from trade. Capital accumulation and material usage are important sources of the welfare gains to trade.     

Exports,investment and production growth: A dynamic heterogeneous firm model with learning and entry costs

We analyze a firm’s joint decision to export and invest using a model that incorporates the essential features of self-selection and learning-by-exporting theories of firm-level dynamics. We calibrate the model to 2002–2007 Chilean manufacturing plant data and simulate it under different assumptions, finding that neither self-selection nor learning-by-exporting alone can adequately explain the observed cross-sectional relationship between firm level exports and capital, favoring instead a model that allows both mechanisms to work in tandem.     

Resource determinants of strategy and performance: The case of British exporters

This study adopts the RBV of the firm in order to identify critical advantage-generating resources and capabilities with strong positive export strategy and performance implications. The proposed export performance model is tested using a structural equation modelling approach on a sample of 356 British exporters. We examine the individual as well as the concurrent (simultaneous) direct and indirect effects of five resource bundles on export performance. We find that four resources/capabilities: managerial, knowledge, planning, and technology, have a significant positive direct effect on export performance, while relational and physical resources exhibited no unique positive effect. We also find that the firm's export strategy mediates the resource–performance nexus in the case of managerial and knowledge-based resources. The theoretical and methodological grounding of this study contributes to the advancement of export related research by providing better specification of the nature of the effects – direct or indirect – of particular resource factors on export performance.     

Information acquisition and export entry decisions in small firms

Consistently low usage of export promotion programs and incentives has been observed among small firms. This has led researchers to argue that these firms operate on a limited information basis and deprive themselves of cheap export market knowledge. This study disputes these conclusions and finds that small firms discriminately use alternative sources to acquire foreign market information and assistance. Furthermore, such information acquisition, irrespective of source, is found to have a substantive and significant association with new export market entry. The implications of these findings for government export policy, small firm decision makers, and export literature are explored.     

Realizing the gains from trade: Export crops, marketing costs, and poverty

This paper explores the role of export costs in the process of poverty reduction in rural Africa. We claim that the marketing costs that emerge when the commercialization of export crops requires intermediaries can lead to lower participation into export cropping and, thus, to higher poverty. We test the model using data from the Uganda National Household Survey. We show that: i) farmers living in villages with fewer outlets for sales of agricultural exports are likely to be poorer than farmers residing in market-endowed villages; ii) market availability leads to increased household participation in export cropping (coffee, tea, cotton, fruits); iii) households engaged in export cropping are less likely to be poor than subsistence-based households. We conclude that the availability of markets for agricultural export crops help realize the gains from trade. This result uncovers the role of complementary factors that provide market access and reduce marketing costs as key building blocks in the link between the gains from export opportunities and the poor.     

The export technology content, learning by doing and specialization in foreign trade

We examine empirically whether countries with relatively little production and export experience specialize in the production and export of more standardized and lower-technology products, and those with more production experience produce and export more recently developed and higher-technology products. Using panel data covering 127 countries and the period between 1970 and 1997, we find that export experience does help to account for the variation in export content. Exporting experience influences a country's export mix more than its production experience, suggesting that there may be a trade-induced component of learning by doing in foreign trade specialization.     

The contribution of granular and fundamental comparative advantage to European Union countries' export specialisation

This paper analyses the contribution of fundamental comparative advantage (a country-specific component) and granular comparative advantage (a firm-specific component) to European Union countries' export specialisation. We find that, on average, granular comparative advantage may explain export specialisation in 29% of industries, which account for 47% of total exports. We also show that 60% of the variation in export specialisation across countries and industries may be explained by granular comparative advantage. These results highlight that some outstanding firms may play a very important role in explaining European Union countries' export specialisation.     

对人民币汇率与广东省进出口额之间关系的实证分析

以国际贸易理论为基础，利用广东省的若干客观经济数据，对人民币汇率与广东省进出口额之间的关系进行实证分析，分别得出人民币汇率与广东省的数量关系、广东省GDP指数与广东省进口额之间的数量关系以及进口关税税率与广东省进口额之间的数量关系。同时，对广东省出口额的预测值与实际值之间的残差做了简要分析。     

What is beneficial for first-time SME-exporters from a transition economy: A diversified or a focused export-strategy?

We examine whether more focused or more diversified exporting is beneficial for first-time SME-exporters from a small European transition economy (TE). We test the impact of market (geographic) diversification, product diversification and export intensity (export volume) on firm performance. In addition, we test whether a complex export strategy – of simultaneous product- and market-diversification – is beneficial for TE SMEs. We use panel data of all reported, first-time Slovenian exporters in the period 1995–2010. We find that a diversified export strategy in terms of product, market and intensity is positively related to performance although with decreasing returns. Furthermore, a complex diversification strategy pays off for first time TE SME-exporters, but in a decreasing fashion.     

The export performance of emerging economy firms: The influence of firm capabilities and institutional environments

We advance a two-stage theoretical model which contends that the export performance of emerging economy firms (EEFs) will depend both upon their firm-specific capabilities and their home institutional environments. Specifically, we argue that EEFs will be more likely to export when facing more uncertainty at home from greater political instability, substantial informal competition, and high corruption. Furthermore, we hypothesize that firms’ export intensities will be contingent upon specialized internal capabilities such as a skilled workforce, top managerial experience, and access to external technologies. We test these hypotheses using a dataset of more than 16,000 firms from the four BRIC economies (i.e., Brazil, Russia, China and India). Our results confirm that political instability and informal competition have robust effects on the export propensity of EEFs, whilst export intensity is contingent upon the availability of skilled workers and access to external technologies via licensing.     

Do board directors affect the export propensity and export performance of Korean firms? A resource dependence perspective

Using the Heckman two-stage method, this study empirically investigates whether board directors’ work experience in government and multinational corporations (MNCs), as well as the proportion of outside directors affects export propensity and export performance based on a sample of Korean firms. We find that the Korean firms with former government officials on the board are more likely to engage in exporting, although there is no empirical evidence supporting export performance. The findings also show that firms with former MNC employees on the board demonstrate higher levels of export propensity and export performance. Similarly, firms with a higher proportion of outside directors exhibit a higher level of export propensity and export performance. These findings highlight the importance of the board of directors in Korean firms’ first stage of internationalization and provide new insights into which type of board members can benefit their firms in terms of export propensity and export performance.     

Export Credit Guarantees and Export Performance: Evidence from Austrian Firm‐level Data

This paper provides an economic assessment of export credit guarantee commitments by the Austrian export credit agency, using firm‐level data on a cross‐section of Austrian exporting firms for the year 2008. In a first step, we explore various determinants of export guarantee usage. Results suggest that firm size, being part of a multinational enterprise, exposure to revenue risk and R&D intensity are important factors. In a second step, we investigate the effects of export guarantees on export performance. Identification is achieved using as instruments the exogenous determinants of export guarantee usage identified in the first step. We find that there are economically and statistically significant effects of export credit guarantee usage on firm‐specific export performance ranging from some 80 to 100 per cent compared with the control group of non‐users.