IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/ibrjnl/v15y2022i4p18.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Import, Export and Trade Intermediaries: What Matters the Most?

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Di Cintio
  • Emanuele Grassi
  • Claudio Petti

Abstract

This paper undertakes a multi-country study to investigate heterogeneity in productivity levels across firms choosing to trade either directly or indirectly through intermediaries, both in the export and import markets. To this end, we implement a stochastic dominance criterion to compare the entire distribution of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of traders, and we use a generalized ordered logit model to investigate the extent to which a shift in TFP produces a reallocation of firms among different categories of traders. Compared to previous research, our novel findings suggest a productivity sorting of firms which mostly depends on the mode of trade rather than the side. From a policy perspective, our work implies the need to create the conditions for endowing local firms with the necessary knowledge and capabilities to overcome the productivity threshold levels to enter and benefit from direct international trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Di Cintio & Emanuele Grassi & Claudio Petti, 2022. "Import, Export and Trade Intermediaries: What Matters the Most?," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:ibn:ibrjnl:v:15:y:2022:i:4:p:18
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ibr/article/download/0/0/46904/50156
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ibr/article/view/0/46904
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jiangyong Lu & Yi Lu & Yi Sun & Zhigang Tao, 2017. "Intermediaries, Firm Heterogeneity and Exporting Behaviour," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(7), pages 1381-1404, July.
    2. Dimitra Petropoulou, 2007. "Information Costs, Networks and Intermediation in International Trade," Economics Series Working Papers 370, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm Level Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 1, pages 3-41, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Patricia Augier & Olivier Cadot & Marion Dovis, 2013. "Imports and TFP at the firm level: the role of absorptive capacity," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(3), pages 956-981, August.
    5. Wagner, Joachim, 2017. "Productivity premia for many modes of internationalization. A replication study of Békés and Muraközy (Economics Letters, 2016)," International Journal for Re-Views in Empirical Economics (IREE), ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 1(2017-4), pages 1-6.
    6. Kasahara, Hiroyuki & Rodrigue, Joel, 2008. "Does the use of imported intermediates increase productivity? Plant-level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 106-118, August.
    7. Mirabelle Muûls & Mauro Pisu, 2009. "Imports and Exports at the Level of the Firm: Evidence from Belgium," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 692-734, May.
    8. Ahn, JaeBin & Khandelwal, Amit K. & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2011. "The role of intermediaries in facilitating trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 73-85, May.
    9. Crozet, Matthieu & Lalanne, Guy & Poncet, Sandra, 2013. "Wholesalers in international trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-17.
    10. Dasgupta, Kunal & Mondria, Jordi, 2018. "Quality uncertainty and intermediation in international trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 68-91.
    11. Joachim Wagner, 2006. "Exports, foreign direct investment, and productivity: evidence from German firm level data," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(6), pages 347-349.
    12. James E. Rauch & Joel Watson, 2004. "Network Intermediaries in International Trade," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 69-93, March.
    13. Bernardo S. Blum & Sebastian Claro & Ignatius Horstmann, 2010. "Facts and Figures on Intermediated Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 419-423, May.
    14. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf & Sara Johansson, 2008. "Productivity and International Trade: Firm Level Evidence from a Small Open Economy," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 774-801, December.
    15. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "International Trade and Firm Performance: A Survey of Empirical Studies since 2006," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 2, pages 43-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    16. Nobuo Kiriyama, 2012. "Trade and Innovation: Synthesis Report," OECD Trade Policy Papers 135, OECD Publishing.
    17. Joachim Wagner, 2017. "Productivity premia for many modes of internationalization - A replication study of Békes / Muraközy, Economics Letters (2016)," Working Paper Series in Economics 372, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    18. Alexander Vogel & Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Higher Productivity in Importing German Manufacturing Firms: Self-selection, Learning from Importing or Both?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 4, pages 139-174, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    19. Bai, Xue & Krishna, Kala & Ma, Hong, 2017. "How you export matters: Export mode, learning and productivity in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 122-137.
    20. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    21. Jennifer Abel-Koch, 2013. "Who Uses Intermediaries in International Trade? Evidence from Firm-level Survey Data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(8), pages 1041-1064, August.
    22. Mahmut Yasar & Philip Garcia & Carl Nelson & Roderick Rejesus, 2007. "Is there Evidence of Learning-by-Exporting in Turkish Manufacturing Industries?," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 293-305.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chan, Jackie M.L., 2019. "Financial frictions and trade intermediation: Theory and evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 567-593.
    2. Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Engberg, Erik & Halvarsson, Daniel & Kokko, Ari & Tingvall, Patrik, 2019. "Wholesale firms: A catalyst for Swedish exports?," Ratio Working Papers 328, The Ratio Institute.
    3. Nucci, Francesco & Pietrovito, Filomena & Pozzolo, Alberto Franco, 2023. "Intermediated trade and credit constraints: The case of firm’s imports," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 201-220.
    4. Ronald Davies & Tine Jeppesen, 2015. "Export mode, firm heterogeneity, and source country characteristics," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 151(2), pages 169-195, May.
    5. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "A survey of empirical studies using transaction level data on exports and imports," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(1), pages 215-225, February.
    6. David Aristei & Davide Castellani & Chiara Franco, 2013. "Firms’ exporting and importing activities: is there a two-way relationship?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(1), pages 55-84, March.
    7. Anders Akerman, 2018. "A theory on the role of wholesalers in international trade based on economies of scope," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(1), pages 156-185, February.
    8. Parisa Kamali, 2019. "Exporting Through Intermediaries: Impact on Export Dynamics and Welfare," IMF Working Papers 2019/302, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Neil Foster-McGregor & Anders Isaksson & Florian Kaulich, 2013. "Importing, Productivity and Absorptive Capacity in Sub-Saharan African Manufacturing Firms," wiiw Working Papers 105, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    10. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2014. "Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm-level evidence from France," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(2), pages 241-275, May.
    11. Sandra Poncet & Meina Xu, 2018. "Quality screening and trade intermediaries: Evidence from China," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 223-256, February.
    12. Dasgupta, Kunal & Mondria, Jordi, 2018. "Quality uncertainty and intermediation in international trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 68-91.
    13. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "International Trade and Firm Performance: A Survey of Empirical Studies since 2006," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 2, pages 43-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Emmanuel Dhyne & Stela Rubínová, 2016. "The supplier network of exporters : Connecting the dots," Working Paper Research 296, National Bank of Belgium.
    15. Patricia Augier & Olivier Cadot & Marion Dovis, 2013. "Imports and TFP at the firm level: the role of absorptive capacity," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(3), pages 956-981, August.
    16. Defever, Fabrice & Imbruno, Michele & Kneller, Richard, 2020. "Trade liberalization, input intermediaries and firm productivity: Evidence from China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    17. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports, Imports and Firm Survival: First Evidence for Manufacturing Enterprises in Germany," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 10, pages 341-367, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Fergal McCann, 2013. "Indirect Exporters," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 519-535, December.
    19. Dalgic, Basak & Fazlioglu, Burcu & Gasiorek, Michael, 2015. "Costs of trade and self-selection into exporting and importing: The case of Turkish manufacturing firms," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-28.
    20. Neil Foster-McGregor & Anders Isaksson & Florian Kaulich, 2014. "Importing, exporting and performance in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(2), pages 309-336, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:ibrjnl:v:15:y:2022:i:4:p:18. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.