IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cys/ecocyb/v50y2016i1p5-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Testing Self-Selection And Learning By Exporting Hypotheses. The Case Of Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Moisă ALTĂR

    (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies The Romanian - American University– FINSYS)

  • Ana-Maria CAZACU

    (The Bucharest University of Economics Studies)

Abstract

This paper provides empirical evidence of export-productivity link, using a comprehensive set of data on Romanian firms activating in ten business sectors. By using the semi-parametric estimation technique developed by Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) to estimate Total Factor Productivity (TFP)we find that exporters display a productivity advantage compared to their domestic counterparts. We seek to distinguish between self-selection and learning by exporting through matching techniques and we find that the most productive firms self-select in activities in international markets, including importing. Learning effects (when TFP is used as outcome) are present on a narrow sample of companies, although in most of the cases are positive and significant when using labour productivity. Stronger evidence for positive effects of international trade is found for importers, which suggests a possible learning by importing phenomenon manifested in Romanian.

Suggested Citation

  • Moisă ALTĂR & Ana-Maria CAZACU, 2016. "Testing Self-Selection And Learning By Exporting Hypotheses. The Case Of Romania," ECONOMIC COMPUTATION AND ECONOMIC CYBERNETICS STUDIES AND RESEARCH, Faculty of Economic Cybernetics, Statistics and Informatics, vol. 50(1), pages 5-22.
    • Handle: RePEc:cys:ecocyb:v:50:y:2016:i:1:p:5-22
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: ftp://www.eadr.ro/RePEc/cys/ecocyb_pdf/ecocyb1_2016p5-22.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlo Altomonte & Gabor Békés, 2009. "Trade Complexity and Productivity," KITeS Working Papers 016, KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Jul 2009.
    2. Berman, Nicolas & Berthou, Antoine & Héricourt, Jérôme, 2015. "Export dynamics and sales at home," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 298-310.
    3. Andrew Bernard & Joachim Wagner, 1997. "Exports and success in German manufacturing," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 133(1), pages 134-157, March.
    4. Jan De Loecker, 2013. "Detecting Learning by Exporting," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(3), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Dhyne, Emmanuel & Berthou, Antoine & Soares, Ana Cristina & Bugamelli, Matteo & Cazacu, Ana-Maria & Lalinsky, Tibor & Meriküll, Jaanika & Harasztosi, Péter & Demian, Calin-Vlad & Oropallo, Filippo, 2015. "Assessing European firms' exports and productivity distributions: the CompNet trade module," Working Paper Series 1788, European Central Bank.
    6. HOSONO Kaoru & MIYAKAWA Daisuke & TAKIZAWA Miho, 2015. "Learning by Export: Does the presence of foreign affiliate companies matter?," Discussion papers 15053, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Thierry Mayer & Gianmarco Ottaviano, 2008. "The Happy Few: The Internationalisation of European Firms," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 43(3), pages 135-148, May.
    8. Eric Bartelsman & John Haltiwanger & Stefano Scarpetta, 2013. "Cross-Country Differences in Productivity: The Role of Allocation and Selection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 305-334, February.
    9. Hagemejer, Jan, 2007. "Factors driving the firms decision to export. Firm-level evidence from Poland," MPRA Paper 17717, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Moisa, Altar & Necula, Ciprian & Bobeica, Gabriel, 2010. "Estimating Potential GDP for the Romanian Economy. An Eclectic Approach," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 5-25, September.
    11. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    12. Mogens Dilling-Hansen & Valdemar Smith, 2015. "R&D, export and productivity in business services firms: testing the Bustos model," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(16), pages 1309-1314, November.
    13. Mauro Pisu, 2008. "Export destinations and learning-by-exporting : Evidence from Belgium," Working Paper Research 140, National Bank of Belgium.
    14. De Loecker, Jan, 2007. "Do exports generate higher productivity? Evidence from Slovenia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 69-98, September.
    15. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    16. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2009. "On estimating firm-level production functions using proxy variables to control for unobservables," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 112-114, September.
    17. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra Todd, 1998. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(2), pages 261-294.
    18. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/10147 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Carlo Altomonte & Gabor Békés, 2009. "Trade Complexity and Productivity," KITeS Working Papers 016, KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Jul 2009.
    20. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/10147 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Andrés Mauricio Gómez‐Sánchez & Juan A. Mañez & Juan A. Sanchis‐Llopis, 2022. "Are importing and exporting complements or substitutes in an emerging economy? The case of Colombia," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 819-835, August.
    2. Giordano, Claire & Lopez-Garcia, Paloma, 2019. "Firm heterogeneity and trade in EU countries: a cross-country analysis," Occasional Paper Series 225, European Central Bank.
    3. María D. Parra & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso, 2014. "Imported intermediate inputs and Egyptian exports: Exploring the links," Working Papers 2014/09, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    4. Carlo Reggiani & Yevgeniya Shevtsova, 2018. "Trade and Productivity in a Transition Economy: the Role of Industry and Export Destination," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 395-428, September.
    5. Cirera,Xavier & Lederman,Daniel & Máñez,J.A. & Rochina,M.E. & Sanchis,J.A., 2015. "The export-productivity link in Brazilian manufacturing firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7365, The World Bank.
    6. René Belderbos & Vincent Van Roy & Leo Sleuwaegen, 2021. "Does trade participation limit domestic firms’ productivity gains from inward foreign direct investment?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(1), pages 83-109, March.
    7. Geoffrey Barrows & Hélène Ollivier & Ariell Reshef, 2023. "Production Function Estimation with Multi-Destination Firms," CESifo Working Paper Series 10716, CESifo.
    8. Francesco Serti & Chiara Tomasi, 2008. "Self-Selection and Post-Entry Effects of Exports: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 660-694, December.
    9. J. David Brown & Gustavo A. Crespi & Leonardo Iacovone & Luca Marcolin, 2018. "Decomposing firm-level productivity growth and assessing its determinants: evidence from the Americas," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(6), pages 1571-1606, December.
    10. Nguyen, Huong, 2016. "Ease of Doing Business Reforms in Vietnam: Implications for Total Factor Productivity in Manufacturing Industries," Papers 999, World Trade Institute.
    11. Marianne Matthee & Neil Rankin & Tasha Naughtin & Carli Bezuidenhout, 2016. "The South African manufacturing exporter story," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-38, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Jamil, Nida & Chaudhry, Theresa Thompson & Chaudhry, Azam, 2022. "Trading textiles along the new silk route: The impact on Pakistani firms of gaining market access to China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    13. Kazuhiko Yokota & Kyosuke Kurita & Shujiro Urata, 2016. "In Search of the Learning-by-Exporting Effect: Role of Economies of Scale and Technology," China Economic Policy Review (CEPR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(01), pages 1-27, June.
    14. 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.
    15. Nicholas Sheard, 2014. "Learning to Export and the Timing of Entry to Export Markets," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 536-560, August.
    16. Emanuele Forlani, 2017. "Irish Firms’ Productivity and Imported Inputs," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 85(6), pages 710-743, December.
    17. Marianne Matthee & Neil Rankin & Tasha Naughtin & Carli Bezuidenhout, 2016. "The South African manufacturing exporter story," WIDER Working Paper Series 038, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Sharma, Chandan, 2018. "Exporting, access of foreign technology, and firms’ performance: Searching the link in Indian manufacturing," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 46-62.
    19. Mauro Caselli, 2018. "Do all imports matter for productivity? Intermediate inputs vs capital goods," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 35(2), pages 285-311, August.
    20. Robert J. R. Elliott & Liza Jabbour & Liyun Zhang, 2016. "Firm productivity and importing: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(3), pages 1086-1124, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    endogeneity; selection bias; TFP; semi-parametric models; matching techniques; propensity score;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • F61 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Microeconomic Impacts

    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:cys:ecocyb:v:50:y:2016:i:1:p:5-22. 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: Corina Saman (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feasero.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.