Firm-level interactions between exporting and productivity: Industry-specific evidence

This paper investigates interactions between exporting and productivity at the firm level, using a panel of firms in the UK chemical industry. This is both highly technology intensive and the UK’s largest exporting sector. We find exporters are more productive than non-exporters, but are also on average smaller. This superior productivity performance among exporters appears to be caused by both self-selection and learning-by-exporting effects. In contrast to other studies, we find learning effects are significantly positive among new entrants, weaker for more experienced exporters and negative for established exporters. JEL no. F14, D21, L65     

异质性企业出口行为的实证研究——基于中国企业面板数据

在近年兴起的新—新贸易理论中,出口行为与企业生产率之间的双向因果关系的实证研究逐渐成为主要的热点领域。许多学者用不同国家企业数据验证了自我选择效应和出口学习效应两个逻辑相反的假设。我们利用中国企业的微观层面数据对该命题进行验证。结果表明,自我选择效应显著,而出口学习效应不显著。最后在分析中国企业国际化行为特征的基础上,给出政策建议。     

From the Editor

This article revises the thesis that exporting firms learn to be more innovative and efficient as they have contact with certain information flows from their foreign activity. It begins by exploring the connections between two concepts: self-selection and learning-by-exporting. The study proceeds with a comparative analysis of the most recent literature and presents common facts and key issues still open to debate. Learning-by-exporting should be measured directly using firms' innovative performance. Given the lack of suitable data on firms' innovative activities, most studies—although without consensus—have followed an indirect approach using productivity measures.     

Which manufacturing firms learn by exporting?

Using a longitudinal database (1996–2003) at the plant level, this article analyses the causal nexus between international trade engagement and productivity in Portugal. By applying the propensity score matching and a differences-in-differences estimator, the learning-by-exporting hypothesis is analysed in particular. A higher growth of labour productivity and total factor productivity is found for new exporting firms. To uncover the channels through which the learning effects are driven, the same methodology is applied to some sub-samples. Learning effects are higher for new exporters that are also importers or start importing at the same time. Other factors affecting learning ability are found in firms exporting to more developed markets, in those that achieve a certain threshold of export intensity and mainly for those firms that belong to sectors where Portugal has a comparative disadvantage.     

A method for calculating export supply and import demand elasticities

This article has a dual aim. First, it sets out to underline a learning-by-exporting effect in Spanish firms between 1991 and 2002. It further seeks to outline the conditions allowing firms to benefit from these spillover effects. Using a propensity score matching method, a group of firms having entered the export market (treatment group) is compared with a similar group of non-exporting firms (control group), and difference-in-differences regressions are carried out. The results show a cumulative productivity differential of 32% for the first four years of exporting, with continuous improvement in productivity. After three years of exporting, productivity gain is still approximately 10%. This study shows that increases in capacity utilisation and competitive pressure from foreign markets are insufficient to explain this causal link between exporting and total factor productivity (TFP). It is thus possible to deduce the presence of a learning-by-exporting effect, benefiting firms with sufficiently qualified employees and which are already engaged in international relations (due to foreign suppliers and/or foreign equity participation).     

Learning-by-Exporting: Continuous Productivity Improvements or Capacity Utilization Effects? Evidence from Slovenian Firms

Following along the lines of a growing literature on the causal link between exporting and productivity, this paper analyzes the existence of “learning-by-exporting” using firm-level data for Slovenian manufacturing enterprises between 1994 and 2002. We fail to find conclusive evidence of learning-by-exporting. By matching new exporting firms to “sufficiently” similar non-exporters and using the difference-in-differences method on the matched pairs it is revealed that productivity improvements, although present, are far from permanent and tend to dissipate shortly after initial entry. Confronting the data on factor accumulation with TFP measures indicates that the perceived learning effects may in fact only be a consequence of increased capacity utilization brought about by the opening of an additional market. JEL no. D24, F12, F14     

出口、异质性与企业生产率——来自中国企业层面的证据

文章基于自我选择效应和出口中学效应假说,利用中国企业面板数据,从超越对数生产函数出发,纳入出口状态变量,分别采用固定效应估计、系统广义矩估计和Olley-Pakes半参数估计法克服潜在的同步性偏差和选择偏差问题,在从微观角度充分控制企业异质性的背景下,深入考察出口行为与我国企业生产率之间的作用机理。研究发现,出口企业的生产率相对非出口企业高出20%-30%左右,我国出口贸易存在显著的出口中学效应;而对自我选择效应的检验结果警示,本土企业以低劳动力成本而非高生产率作为出口竞争优势切入全球价值链低端,转变贸易增长方式是保证中国开放经济长期可持续增长的重要保障。     

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.     

Firm-level interactions between exporting and productivity: Industry-specific evidence

This paper investigates interactions between exporting and productivity at the firm level, using a panel of firms in the UK chemical industry. This is both highly technology intensive and the UK’s largest exporting sector. We find exporters are more productive than non-exporters, but are also on average smaller. This superior productivity performance among exporters appears to be caused by both self-selection and learning-by-exporting effects. In contrast to other studies, we find learning effects are significantly positive among new entrants, weaker for more experienced exporters and negative for established exporters. JEL no. F14, D21, L65