Exporting May Not Always Boost Firm Productivity

A large empirical literature suggests the performance characteristics of firms that export are different from firms that do not. Specifically, exporters tend to be larger, more productive and pay higher wages than non-exporters. This paper reports on an econometric analysis of the characteristics of exporters and non-exporters in Swedish manufacturing industry. We use matching and difference-in-differences analysis to investigate a panel data set on a large number of firms and spanning almost 20 years. Some of our results echo those reported elsewhere. However, in contrast to the findings for every other country analysed so far, we find that the performance characteristics of exporters and non-exporters are remarkably similar. In particular, we find no evidence of pre- or post-entry differences in firm level productivity. This is a striking outcome, probably driven by the extremely high openness of the Swedish economy. JEL no. F14     

Exports and success in German manufacturing

Exports and Success in German Manufacturing. - While Germany has a very open, export-oriented manufacturing sector, there has been little research on the role of exporting in German firms’ performance. This paper documents the significant differences between exporters and non-exporters and attempts to identify the sources of these disparities. Exporters are much larger, more capital-intensive, and more productive than non-exporters. However, the bulk of the evidence suggests that these performance characteristics predate the entry into export markets. The authors find no positive effects on employment, wage or productivity growth after entry. The authors’ results provide evidence that success leads to exporting rather than the reverse.     

出口退税政策与出口型外贸企业现金流运行均衡管理研究

对于出口退税研究以往较多关注出口退税政策对宏观经济调控作用,但其如何传导及影响微观出口型企业现金流,学者们对此领域的研究文献却不多见,文章分析与比较了危机前后的出口退税政策,并以此展开研究,分析调整后的出口退税政策如何综合作用于微观外贸出口型企业现金流运行。尝试性探索金融危机后基于我国出口退税政策特质出口型外贸企业现金流运行规律与特征,以期归纳与总结出出口退税政策如何传导并作用于出口型外贸企业现金流运行的一般特性,并针对性提出不同现金流管理措施与策略,以期为后危机时代外贸出口型企业实现现金流运行均衡管理,防范现金流运行断流风险提供些许洞见。     

Importing,exporting and performance in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms

This paper examines productivity differences between internationally trading and non-trading firms using data on a sample of firms from 19 sub-Saharan African countries. The paper provides the first evidence of whether exporters, importers and two-way traders perform better than non-traders, and whether there are differences in performance between different types of trading firms in sub-Saharan Africa. Our results indicate that exporters, importers and two-way traders perform better than non-exporters, non-importers and non-two-way traders. We further find that two-way traders perform better than importers only or exporters only, results largely consistent with recent results for other countries and regions. Considering information on export starters, continuers and exiters we also present some evidence suggesting that there is no significant difference in performance between export continuers and starters.     

Assessing Productivity Gains from International Trade in a Small Open Economy

Empirical evidence suggests that exporter firms tend to charge higher markups than non-exporters due to trade barriers. The exporters’ markup premium, however, may disappear in a special case, namely when the home country is small relative to its trade partners and trade barriers are low. This can be because competition is more intense in the large export destination than in the small home country, so that firms are able to set higher markups for locally sold products but not for exports. This paper provides empirical evidence on the validity of this special case by estimating markups for firms in Luxembourg who generally export to larger countries. The estimated negative markup premium for exporters has important implications for the productivity measurement. In a sufficiently small open economy, exporters’ productivity may be biased downward, when the firm-level markup variation is not controlled for in the productivity estimation. The bias in the productivity estimates further leads to the inaccurate conclusion that openness to international trade lowers allocative efficiency.     

生产率影响差异及企业出口竞争力——基于不同所有制企业的实证分析

运用中国工业企业的微观数据,本文研究了不同所有制企业生产率对企业出口竞争力的影响。研究发现,所有制是影响企业出口竞争力的重要因素,国有企业的出口竞争力明显小于私营企业、外资企业和港澳台企业。进一步研究表明,生产率对不同所有制企业出口竞争力的影响存在显著差异。生产率对国有企业获得出口竞争力有负向影响,但私营企业、外资企业和港澳台企业的生产率水平越高,其进入出口市场的竞争力越强。     

Synergies and competition: Export survival in Africa and Latin America

Using firm-level export data from six African (Burkina Faso and Senegal) and Latin American (Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay) countries, we examine factors that determine the survival of export flows. We explore the effects on export survival of changes in the number of home-country exporters serving the same destination, firm-level export diversification, and country-level factors. Unlike previous studies, we find that export survival rates decrease with the number of co-exporters selling the same product to the same country. We also find that the relationship between firm-level product diversification and export flow survival is hump-shaped: firms that do not diversify or are highly diversified have lower survival of product-destination flows. Our findings are robust to various alternative specifications. The main findings hold across both regions and all countries. However, the number of co-exporters negatively affects survival in Africa more than in Latin America.     

Self-Selection and Post-Entry Effects of Exports: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Firms

Our paper adds empirical evidence on the causal effects of exporting on firms’ performances. Using a rich database on Italian manufacturing firms, we test the self-selection and the post-entry effects hypotheses with respect to various firms’ characteristics. Our analysis supports the idea that the superior performance of the exporters is due not only to a market selection mechanism, but also to efficiency improvements following the export activity. We find heterogeneous post-entry effects with respect to characteristics as geographical location, size and sector. To test the post-entry hypothesis we implement the propensity score matching and differences-in-differences techniques. JEL no.  D24, F14, O31     

Microeconomic mechanisms behind export spillovers from FDI: evidence from Bulgaria

This paper studies how the presence of multinational enterprises affects the export performance of Bulgarian manufacturing firms—export spillovers from FDI. Using export data at the firm/product/destination level for the period 2004–2006, it finds positive forward spillover on export value and quantity, related to quality upgrading. Conversely, it finds negative (or insignificant) backward and horizontal spillover on export flows, related to quality downgrading. When aggregating data at the firm level and considering that a firm can operate in several sectors, the paper shows that the presence of foreign input suppliers allows domestic firms to export additional varieties of lower quality and upgrade the average quality of existing varieties, whereas the presence of foreign customers generates the opposite effect.     

Analysis of Chinese Manufacturing Export Duration

This paper studies the duration of Chinese manufacturing exports and its determinants, using disaggregated 6‐digit level Harmonized System product trade data from 1995 to 2007. Cox proportional hazard, Weibull and exponential models are used to examine the effects of various factors on export duration. It is revealed that export duration tends to be rather short‐lived. It is also found that GDP and GDP per capita of the export destination have positive effects on export duration, while trade relationships with distant and landlocked countries are generally of shorter duration. In addition, export duration is longer for differentiated and parts and components products, as well as products with large initial trade values. WTO membership is also important for longer export duration. Our empirical analysis suggests that developed markets, such as the USA and the EU, are important to China, and should still be the major sources for Chinese export growth in the long run. Moreover, technical innovation of firms and free trade agreement negotiations will be helpful for sustainable export growth.     

出口企业的收汇风险及防范

我国加入WTO之后,与世界市场的联系更加紧密,出口不断扩大。但在我国的出口企业中,中小企业占绝大多数,从事国际贸易的合格专业人员相对较少。出口企业驾驭市场的能力参差不齐,面临的出口收汇风险要比市场化程度较高的发达国家大得多。本文从出口企业收汇方式入手,首先分析了出口企业收汇面临的主要风险,然后结合实际重点探讨了收汇风险的防范策略。     

Liberalization for services FDI and export quality: Evidence from China

By employing firm-level export data in China, this paper empirically examines the effect of liberalization of services foreign direct investment (FDI) on exporting firms’ quality upgrading. To evaluate its relative effectiveness, we also examine other kinds of trade policies, including tariffs in export destination countries and input and output tariffs in China. With China's accession to the World Trade Organization in December 2001, these trade policies changed substantially during our sample period of 2000–06. Empirical results showed that easing the restrictiveness of services FDI resulted in raising export product quality, mainly for foreign-owned enterprises. More than any other trade policy, we found that reduced input tariffs contributed to raising export product quality.     

我国企业出口信用风险管理的新思考

加入WTO后,我国对外贸易增长迅速,与此同时,我国出口企业中存在的信用风险问题也越来越突出.面对出口信用风险的不断扩大,出口企业应如何面对? 文章对我国企业出口信用风险管理存在的问题和原因进行了分析,并在此基础上,提出了加强出口信用风险管理的建议.     

Industry Differences in the Effect of Export Market Entry: Learning by Exporting?

An extensive evidence base affirms the importance of sunk costs and firm heterogeneity to exporting. Only higher productivity firms can profitably cover sunk costs and enter export markets. This is the standard explanation for the regularity with which econometric analyses report that exporters are more productive than non-exporters. But what happens to their productivity trajectory once they have entered? Some theory points to the possibility of a further productivity boost, attributable to the effects of learning and competition. We investigate whether this is because the potential for a post-entry boost depends upon how exposed to competition the firm is. We find that industry differences are an important marker for determining whether learning effects boost productivity after export market entry.     

广东省与江苏省外贸出口比较分析

作为我国外贸最发达的两个沿海省份,广东省与江苏省的外贸出口活动很相似,但也存在差异。本文从出口规模、出口贸易方式、出口贸易结构、出口依存度、出口主体以及贸易摩擦等六个方面对两省的外贸出口活动进行比较分析,得出广东在出口规模和外贸依存度等各方面高于江苏,江苏的出口贸易结构则优于广东等结论。提出粤苏两省要进一步转变对外贸易发展方式,优化外贸结构,促进外贸活动又好又快发展。     

企业分担了地方政府的财政压力吗? —基于出口退税分担机制改革的经验研究

分税制改革形成了新的财政集权,地方政府是否会将财政压力转移到企业身上,提高企业税收负担？以2004年出口退税分担机制改革为外生政策变化,使用1998-2009年工业企业数据库,利用双重差分法研究了财政压力与企业税负关系。研究发现;(1)出口退税分担机制改革后,地方政府财政压力增大,位于出口大省的企业实际税负显著上升,这说明当地企业分担了地方政府的财政压力;(2)进一步研究表明,国有企业税负提高最多,外资企业次之,私营企业最小;(3)相对于非出口企业,从事出口贸易的企业承担了更多的税负。各级政府应该完善转移支付制度,缓解地方企业因财政压力导致的税负高企。     

我国出口企业海外呆账问题探析

当前出口企业的呆坏账问题日益突出,加强对我国出口企业海外呆账问题的研究尤为重要。本文阐述了目前我国出口企业海外呆账的现状,比较全面地归纳了我国出口企业海外呆账的成因。以此为基础,详细提出了具有可操作性的对策和建议,以期对减少我国出口企业海外呆账起到一定的借鉴作用。     

Does agglomeration promote internationalization of Chinese firms?

Knowledge spillover from the agglomeration of exporters can reduce the initial costs of exporting faced by other firms and thereby facilitate exports. We use a large dataset of Chinese manufacturing firms to assess whether industrial agglomeration lowers the minimum productivity level required for exporting and whether it increases a firm's probability of exporting. Semi-parametric quantile regressions reveal that the productivity advantage of exporters against non-exporters is markedly smaller in agglomerated regions. Furthermore, a parametric estimation of an export entry model indicates that the agglomeration of incumbent exporters contributes significantly to export participation, although its magnitude is limited. These spillover effects are generated not only by the agglomeration of exporting foreign invested firms (FIFs), but also, more importantly, by that of indigenous Chinese exporters. In fact, the agglomeration of exporting FIFs only contributes to the export entry of FIFs.     

中国出口产品遭遇反倾销诉讼的博弈分析

近年来我国出口企业频频遭受国外反倾销诉讼,对外贸出口造成了极大的影响,本文利用Cournot-Bayesian-Nash模型,指明了我国出口产品遭遇反倾销诉讼的原因,并结合实际情况给出了相应的对策。     

Measuring the export capability of South African regions

Recent research has identified what determines local exports and what policies might make them grow. Regions with higher Gross Domestic Product per capita, faster population growth, higher levels of skills, greater export diversification and shorter distances to ports have experienced faster export growth. However, the results of regression models apply to a theoretical representative region and do not allow one to establish where policy interventions will be most effective. This article constructs an index to identify the regions in South Africa that can export manufactured goods. It draws on the literature of the determinants of exports for indicators of the capability (or potential) to export across 354 magisterial districts in 1996 and 2001. The results show a positive relationship between export capability and export performance. The article identifies a number of front-runner magisterial districts along with those of high capability but low performance that stand to benefit most from industrial policy interventions.