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Determinants of Export Behaviour of German Business Services Companies

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Author Info

  • Alexander Eickelpasch
  • Alexander Vogel

Abstract

The determinants of export behaviour at firm level have been widely investigated for manufacturing companies. By contrast, what has remained largely neglected is a detailed investigation in the service sector. As aggregate statistics show, international trade in services has grown significantly over the last few years. However, it is unclear why some companies export and others do not. This paper presents some initial results about the German business services sector at firm level. Using a unique panel dataset of enterprises from the business services sector (transport, storage and communication, real estate, renting and business activities) for the years 2003 to 2005, we analysed the impact of several firm-specific characteristics such as size, productivity, human capital, experience on the national market in Germany, etc. on the firms' export performance. Further, we used the pooled fractional probit estimator, recently introduced by Papke & Wooldridge, an approach that considers both the special nature of the export intensity variable and in addition unobserved time-invariant characteristics. When there is no control for fixed enterprise effects the overall results are in line with previous studies. When there is a control for unobserved heterogeneity, the positive effects of productivity and human capital disappear, indicating that these variables are not per se positively related to export performance, but rather to time-constant characteristics that are unobserved. Size and product diversification still have a positive and significant effect.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research in its series Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin with number 876.

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Length: 30 p.
Date of creation: 2009
Date of revision:
Publication status: Published in: The Service Industries Journal 31 (2011), 4, 513-526
Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp876

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Keywords: Business services sector; export behaviour; firm performance;

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References

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  1. Bernard, Andrew B. & Bradford Jensen, J., 1999. "Exceptional exporter performance: cause, effect, or both?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-25, February.
  2. J. Jensen, 2008. "Trade in High-Tech Services," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 181-197, December.
  3. Alessandro Sterlacchini, 2001. "The determinants of export performance: A firm-level study of Italian manufacturing," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 450-472, September.
  4. Melitz, Marc J, 2002. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," CEPR Discussion Papers 3381, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  5. Wagner, Joachim, 2005. "Exports and Productivity : A survey of the evidence from firm level data," HWWA Discussion Papers 319, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).
  6. Alexander Eickelpasch, 2008. "Export Orientation of Service Companies on the Increase," Weekly Report, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 4(5), pages 28-35.
  7. Papke, Leslie E. & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2008. "Panel data methods for fractional response variables with an application to test pass rates," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 121-133, July.
  8. Stephen Roper & James H. Love & Dolores Añon Hígon, 2006. "The Determinants Of Export Performance: Evidence For Manufacturing Plants In Ireland And Northern Ireland," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 53(5), pages 586-615, November.
  9. Leslie E. Papke & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 1993. "Econometric Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to 401(k) Plan Participation Rates," NBER Technical Working Papers 0147, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  10. Roper, Stephen & Love, James H., 2002. "Innovation and export performance: evidence from the UK and German manufacturing plants," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1087-1102, September.
  11. Christian Arndt & Claudia M. Buch & Anselm Mattes, 2008. "Barriers to exporting: Firm-Level Evidence from Germany," Development Working Papers 268, Centro Studi Luca d\'Agliano, University of Milano.
  12. Wakelin, Katharine, 1998. "Innovation and export behaviour at the firm level," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(7-8), pages 829-841, April.
  13. Sabine Engelmann & Michaela Fuchs, 2008. "Bestimmungsfaktoren der Unterschiede einzelbetrieblicher Exportaktivitäten in Ost- und Westdeutschland," ifo Dresden berichtet, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(01), pages 21-32, 02.
  14. Krugman, Paul, 1979. "A Model of Innovation, Technology Transfer, and the World Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(2), pages 253-66, April.
  15. Dijk, van M., 2001. "The Determinants of Export Performance in Developing Countries: The Case of Indonesian Manufacturing," Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies (ECIS) working paper series 02.01, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies (ECIS).
  16. Joachim Wagner, 2003. "Unobserved firm heterogeneity and the size-exports nexus: Evidence from German panel data," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 161-172, March.
  17. Nesta, Lionel & Bellone, Flora & Musso, Patrick & Schiavo, Stefano, 2008. "Financial Constraints as a Barrier to Export Participation," Open Access publications from Sciences Po info:hdl:2441/9797, Sciences Po.
  18. Alexander Vogel, 2009. "Exporter Performance in the German Business Services Sector: First Evidence from the Services Statistics Panel," Working Paper Series in Economics 111, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Tanja GrubljeÅ¡iÄ & Jože Damijan, 2011. "From Differences in Export Behavior of Services and Manufacturing Firms in Slovenia," LICOS Discussion Papers 29511, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
  2. Vu, Van Huong, 2012. "Does export participation affect wages and employment quality? the case of Vietnamese SMEs," MPRA Paper 38696, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. John P. Weche Geluebcke, 2011. "Foreign Ownership and Firm Performance in German Services: First Evidence based on Official Statistics," Working Paper Series in Economics 213, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
  4. Wagner, Joachim, 2011. "Exports, Foreign Direct Investments and Productivity: Are Services Firms Different?," IZA Discussion Papers 6009, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Vogel , Alexander & Wagner, Joachim, 2012. "Innovation and Exports of German Business Services Enterprises: First evidence from a new type of firm data," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 285, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
  6. Alexander Vogel, 2009. "The German Business Services Statistics Panel 2003 to 2007," Working Paper Series in Economics 127, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
  7. Minondo, Asier, 2012. "Trading firms in the Spanish services sector," MPRA Paper 43224, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  8. Grubljesic, Tanja & Damijan, Joze, 2011. "Differences in Export Behavior of Services and Manufacturing Firms in Slovenia," Open Access publications from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven urn:hdl:123456789/319538, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
  9. Asier Minondo, . "Exporters of services in Spain," Working Papers 2011R04, Basque Institute of Competitiveness.

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