Bigsten, Arne () (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg) Gebreeyesus, Mulu () (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg)
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This paper examines the causal relationship between exporting and productivity using a ten years long plant-level panel data set from an annual census of Ethiopian manufacturing, rarely available in the sub-Saharan Africa. We exploited its length to trace the trajectory of TFP and other productivity measures of groups of firms classified by their export history. We then tested learning-by-exporting using a one-step system-GMM approach with the export-status included directly in the production function. We addressed potential endogeneity problems by using instrumental variables, and also applied a matching analysis to address potential selection bias. We found strong evidence of not only self-selection but also learning-by-exporting. Depending on the specification previous exporting appears to have shifted the production function by 15-32 %. Exporters had on average three times more employees, and paid 1.6 times higher average wage than those of non-exporters.
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Paper provided by Göteborg University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers in Economics with number
303.
Length: 31 pages Date of creation: 30 Apr 2008 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0303
Contact details of provider: Postal: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University Box 640, SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG, Sweden Phone: 031-773 10 00 Web page: http://www.handels.gu.se/econ/ More information through EDIRC
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Find related papers by JEL classification: D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Country and Industry Studies of Trade L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General O14 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
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