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Exports and Profitability - First Evidence for German Manufacturing Firms

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Author Info
Helmut Fryges () (ZEW Centre for European Economic Research)
Joachim Wagner () (Institute of Economics, University of Lüneburg)

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Abstract

Using unique recently released nationally representative high-quality longitudinal data at the enterprise level for Germany, this paper presents the first comprehensive evidence on the relationship between exports and profitability. It documents that the positive profitability differential of exporters compared to non-exporters is statistically significant, though rather small, when observed firm characteristics and unobserved firm specific effects are controlled for. In contrast to nearly all empirical studies on the relationship between productivity and exports we do not find any evidence for selfselection of more profitable firms into export markets. Due to the sampling frame of the data used we cannot test the hypothesis that firms which start exporting perform better in the years after the start than their counterparts which do not start. Instead, we use a newly developed continuous treatment approach and show that exporting improves the profitability almost over the whole range of the export-sales ratio. Only firms that generate 90 percent and more of their total sales abroad do not benefit from exporting in terms of an increased rate of profit. This means, that the usually observed higher productivity of exporters is not completely absorbed by the extra costs of exporting or by higher wages paid by internationally active firms.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics in its series Working Paper Series in Economics with number 102.

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Length: 55 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:lue:wpaper:102

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Related research
Keywords: exports; profitability; micro data; Germany;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Country and Industry Studies of Trade
D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen & Stephen J. Redding & Peter K. Schott, 2007. "Firms in International Trade," NBER Working Papers 13054, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Wagner, Joachim, 2001. " A Note on the Firm Size-Export Relationship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 229-37, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Lucia Foster & John Haltiwanger & Chad Syverson, 2005. "Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?," Working Papers 05-11, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Joachim Wagner, 2007. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm-level Data," The World Economy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(1), pages 60-82, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Helmut Fryges & Joachim Wagner, 2008. "Exports and Productivity Growth: First Evidence from a Continuous Treatment Approach," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 144(4), pages 695-722, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Thierry Mayer & Gianmarco Ottaviano, 2008. "The Happy Few: The Internationalisation of European Firms," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 135-148, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Schmalensee, Richard, 1989. "Inter-industry studies of structure and performance," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 16, pages 951-1009 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. International Study Group on Exports and Productivity (ISGEP), 2008. "Understanding Cross-Country Differences in Exporter Premia: Comparable Evidence for 14 Countries," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 144(4), pages 596-635, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Schank, Thorsten & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2007. "Do exporters really pay higher wages? First evidence from German linked employer-employee data," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 52-74, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. 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. [Downloadable!]
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