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Do African Manufacturing Firms Learn from Exporting?

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Author Info
Arne Bigsten
Paul Collier
Stefan Dercon
Marcel Fafchamps
Bernard Gauthier
Jan Willem Gunning
Abena Oduro
Remco Oostendorp
Catherine Pattillo
Måns Söderbom
Francis Teal
Albert Zeufack

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We use firm-level panel data for the manufacturing sector in four African countries to investigate whether exporting impacts on efficiency, and whether efficient firms self-select into the export market. Based on simultaneous estimation of a production function and an export regression, our preferred results indicate significant efficiency gains from exporting, which can be interpreted as learning by exporting. We show that modelling unobserved heterogeneity by a flexible approach is important for deriving this conclusion. A policy implication of our results is that Africa would gain from orientating its manufacturing sector towards exporting.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Taylor and Francis Journals in its journal The Journal of Development Studies.

Volume (Year): 40 (2004)
Issue (Month): 3 (February)
Pages: 115-141
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Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:40:y:2004:i:3:p:115-141

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Fafchamps, Marcel & El Hamine, Said & Zeufack, Albert, 2002. "Learning to export - evidence from Moroccan manufacturing," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2827, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Arellano, Manuel & Bond, Stephen, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 58(2), pages 277-97, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Mroz, Thomas A., 1999. "Discrete factor approximations in simultaneous equation models: Estimating the impact of a dummy endogenous variable on a continuous outcome," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 233-274, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. M. Söderbaum & F. Teal, 2000. "Skills, Investment and Exports from Manufacturing Firms in Africa," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 13-43, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Keane, Michael & Moffitt, Robert & Runkle, David, 1988. "Real Wages over the Business Cycle: Estimating the Impact of Heterogeneity with Micro Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(6), pages 1232-66, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Tybout, James R. & Westbrook, M. Daniel, 1995. "Trade liberalization and the dimensions of efficiency change in Mexican manufacturing industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1-2), pages 53-78, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Aw, B. -Y. & Hwang, A. R., 1995. "Productivity and the export market: A firm-level analysis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 313-332, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Stephen Bond & Frank Windmeijer, 2002. "Finite Sample Inference for GMM Estimators in Linear Panel Data Models," 10th International Conference on Panel Data, Berlin, July 5-6, 2002 C6-3, International Conferences on Panel Data. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Deb, Partha & Trivedi, Pravin K, 1997. "Demand for Medical Care by the Elderly: A Finite Mixture Approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 313-36, May-June. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Harrison, Ann E., 1994. "Productivity, imperfect competition and trade reform : Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-2), pages 53-73, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Basu, Susanto & Fernald, John G., 1995. "Are apparent productive spillovers a figment of specification error?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 165-188, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Hansen, Lars Peter, 1982. "Large Sample Properties of Generalized Method of Moments Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(4), pages 1029-54, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Haddad, Mona, 1993. "How trade liberalization affected productivity in Morocco," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1096, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  16. Blau, David M, 1994. "Labor Force Dynamics of Older Men," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(1), pages 117-56, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Ham, John C & LaLonde, Robert J, 1996. "The Effect of Sample Selection and Initial Conditions in Duration Models: Evidence from Experimental Data on Training," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(1), pages 175-205, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Frank Windmeijer, 2000. "A finite sample correction for the variance of linear two-step GMM estimators," IFS Working Papers W00/19, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
  19. Sofronis K. Clerides & Saul Lach & James R. Tybout, 1998. "Is Learning By Exporting Important? Micro-Dynamic Evidence From Colombia, Mexico, And Morocco," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(3), pages 903-947, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  20. Heckman, James J & Walker, James R, 1990. "The Relationship between Wages and Income and the Timing and Spacing of Births: Evidence from Swedish Longitudinal Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(6), pages 1411-41, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Facundo Albornoz and Paolo Vanin, 2005. "Local Learning, Trade Policy and Industrial Structure Dynamics," Discussion Papers 05-12, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham. [Downloadable!]
  2. Bigsten, Arne & Soderbom, Mans, 2005. "What have we learned from a decade of manufacturing enterprise surveys in Africa ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3798, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Isgut, Alberto & Fernandes, Ana, 2007. "Learning-by-Exporting Effects: Are They for Real?," MPRA Paper 3121, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Clarke, George R.G., 2005. "Beyond tariffs and quotas : why don't African manufacturers export more?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3617, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Mahmut Yasar & Catherine J. Morrison Paul, 2005. "Foreign Technology Transfer and Productivity: Evidence from a Matched Sample," Emory Economics 0514, Department of Economics, Emory University (Atlanta). [Downloadable!]
  6. Verhoogen, Eric A., 2007. "Trade, Quality Upgrading and Wage Inequality in the Mexican Manufacturing Sector," CEPR Discussion Papers 6385, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Eric Verhoogen, 2007. "Trade, quality upgrading and wage inequality in the Mexican manufacturing sector," Discussion Papers 0607-08, Columbia University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Fernandes, Ana M. & Isgut, Alberto E., 2005. "Learning-by-doing, learning-by-exporting, and productivity : evidence from Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3544, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Albert Park & Dean Yang & Xinzheng Shi & Yuan Jiang, 2006. "Exporting and Firm Performance: Chinese Exporters and the Asian Financial Crisis," Working Papers 549, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan. [Downloadable!]
  10. Facundo Albornoz & Marco Ercolani, 2007. "Learning by Exporting: Do Firm Characteristics Matter? Evidence from Argentinian Panel Data," Discussion Papers 07-17, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham. [Downloadable!]
  11. Cristina Arellano & Aleš Bulir & Timothy D. Lane & Leslie Lipschitz, 2005. "The Dynamic Implications of Foreign Aid and Its Variability," IMF Working Papers 05/119, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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