Learning to Export: Evidence from Moroccan Manufacturing

2002

Fafchamps, Hamine, and Zeufack test two alternative firms that export. Most do so immediately after creation. models of learning to export: productivity learning, The authors also find that, among exporters, new whereby firms learn to reduce production costs, and products are exported very rapidly after production has market learning, whereby firms learn to design products begun. The share of exported output nevertheless that appeal to foreign consumers. increases for 2-3 years after a new product is introduced. Using panel and cross-section data on Moroccan Old firms are unlikely to switch to exports, even in manufacturers, the authors uncover evidence of market response to changes in macroeconomic incentives. The learning but little evidence of productivity learning. authors find a positive relationship between exports and These findings are consistent with the concentration of productivity and conclude that it is the resuilt of selfMloroccan manufacturing exports in consumer item...

2013

The increasing number of literatures investigating on the impact of trade openness on firm efficiency has not yet provided a definite prediction on the direction of causality (Rodrik, 1988, 1992, and Tybout 1992). We investigate the relation between exporting and productivity on the Senegalese manufacturing sectors. Using a unique firm-level panel data for the period 1998-2011, we estimate productivity and exporting dynamics, controlling for other unobserved effects, using simultaneous functions based on Bigsten and al. (2002). Our results indicate the evidences of both selfselection of the most efficient firms enter into the export market and effect of Learning in the export market. Our findings suggest that workers' qualification and access to Patents and Licences have a positive effect on the process of learning. Also, small firms particularly learn more from exporting. From a policy perspective, this evidence of learning-by-exporting suggests that Senegal has much to gain from promoting its manufacturing sector towards exporting by supporting domestic firms to overcome the barriers to enter into foreign market, particularly by investing on skilled workers and promote access to Patents and Licences as well as disseminating benefits arising from exporting to non-exporters.

Journal of Development Economics, 2004

This study asks if firms become more productive by learning through exporting. We do so by estimating production functions using a panel dataset of Indonesian manufacturing establishments from 1990 to 1996. In contrast to previous studies of more developed countries, we find strong evidence that firms experience a jump in productivity of about three to five percent following the initiation of exporting. The timing of the performance improvement suggests learning from exporting rather than just self-selection of better firms into export markets.

The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 2012

Using a longitudinal database (1996-2003) at the plant level, this paper aims to shed light on the causal nexus between international trade engagement and productivity in Portugal. We analyse in particular the learning-by-exporting hypotheses. In line with recent empirical literature, we apply mainly the Propensity Score Matching and a differences-indifferences estimator. In post-entry years we find a higher growth of labour productivity and total factor productivity for new exporting firms when compared to firms that, although having similar characteristics, have decided not to begin exporting in that year. Moreover, in an attempt to uncover the channels through which the learning effects are driven to new exporters, we applied the same methodology to some sub-samples. We found that learning effects are higher for new exporters that are also importers or start importing at the same time. Other important factors influencing that learning ability are found in firms that export to more developed markets, in those that achieve a certain threshold of export intensity and particularly for those firms that belong to sectors in which Portugal is at a comparative disadvantage.

Small Business Economics, 2012

Using a matching approach, we compare the productivity trajectories of future exportentrants and matched non-entrants. Future exporters have higher productivity than do non-entrants before entry into international markets, which indicates self-selection into exports. More interestingly, we also observe a productivity increase among exportentrants relative to non-entrants before export entry. This might be explained by higher investments in physical capital prior to export entry. We find no evidence that the productivity gap between export-entrants and non-entrants continues to grow after export entry. Our results suggest that learning-to-export occurs but that learning-byexporting does not. In contrast to previous studies on Swedish manufacturing, we focus particularly on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

International Business Review, 2012

Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, 2008

Case study evidence suggests that exporting firms learn from their clients. But econometric evidence, mostly using exporting and TFP growth, is mixed. We use a UK panel data set with firm-level information on exporting and productivity. Our innovation is that we also have direct data on the sources of learning (in this case about new technologies). Controlling for fixed effects we have two main findings. First, we find firms who exported in the past are more likely to then report that they learnt from buyers (relative to learning from other sources). Second, firms who had learned from buyers (more than they learnt from other sources) in the past are more likely to then have productivity growth. This suggests some support for the learning-by-exporting hypothesis.

Journal of Development Studies, 2004

In this paper, we use firm-level panel data for the manufacturing sector in four African countries to estimate the effect of exporting on efficiency. Estimating simultaneously a production function and an export regression that control for unobserved firm effects, we find both significant efficiency gains from exporting, supporting the learning-byexporting hypothesis, and evidence for self-selection of more efficient firms into exporting. The evidence of learning-by-exporting suggests that Africa has much to gain from orientating its manufacturing sector towards exporting.

2013

FEP Working Papers, 2010

Using a longitudinal database (1996-2003) at the plant level, this paper aims to shed light on the causal nexus between international trade engagement and productivity in Portugal. We analyse in particular the learning-by-exporting hypotheses. In line with recent empirical literature, ...