Exports and Productivity – Comparable Evidence for 14 Countries

International Study Group on Exports and Productivity - Coordinated by Joachim Wagner
(with the participation of Antonello Zanfei, University of Urbino)

Abstract

We use comparable micro level panel data for 14 countries and a set of identically specified empirical models to investigate the relationship between exports and productivity. Our overall results are in line with the big picture that is by now familiar from the literature: Exporters are more productive than non-exporters when observed and unobserved heterogeneity are controlled for, and these exporter productivity premia tend to increase with the share of exports in total sales; there is strong evidence in favour of self-selection of more productive firms into export markets, but nearly no evidence in favour of the learning-by-exporting hypothesis. We document that the exporter premia differ considerably across countries in identically specified empirical models. In a meta-analysis of our results we find that countries that are more open and have more effective government report higher productivity premia. However, the level of development per se does not appear to be an explanation for the observed cross-country differences.

JEL classification: F14, D21

THE INTERNATIONAL STUDY GROUP ON EXPORTS AND PRODUCTIVITY consists of teams working with firm (establishment or enterprise) level data from 14 countries. Substantial contributions to the results reported in this paper were made by the following members of the teams:

Austria (Leonhard Pertl, Stefano Schiavo),

Belgium (Mirabelle Muuls, Mauro Pisu),

Chile (Roberto Álvarez, Patricio Jaramillo, Ricardo A. López

China (Johannes Van Biesebroeck, Loren Brandt, Yifan Zhang),

Colombia (Ana M. Fernandes, Alberto Isgut),

Denmark (Rasmus Jørgensen, Ulrich Kaiser),

France (Flora Bellone, Liza Jabbour, Patrick Musso, Lionel Nesta),

Germany (Helmut Fryges, Joachim Wagner),

Italy (Davide Castellani, Francesco Serti, Chiara Tomasi, Antonello Zanfei),

Republic of Ireland (Stefanie Haller, Frances Ruane),

Slovenia (Joze P. Damijan, Crt Kostevc, Saso Polanec),

Spain (Jose C. Fariñas, Liza Jabbour, Juan A. Máñez, Ana Martin, Maria E. Rochina, Juan A. Sanchis),

Sweden (Martin Andersson, Sara Johansson),

United Kingdom (David Greenaway, Richard Kneller, Mauro Pisu).

Ana Fernandes, Holger Görg and Alberto Isgut contributed to the meta-analysis.

Joachim Wagner (wagner@uni-lueneburg.de) co-ordinates the group and serves as the corresponding author for this international comparison paper.