IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mae/wpaper/2020-01.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Export and firms' performance in North Macedonia: self selection or learning by doing?

Author

Listed:
  • Biljana Jovanovic

    (National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia)

Abstract

Export is an important contributor to growth with numerous direct and indirect macroeconomic benefits. Moreover, firms engaged in exporting activity tend to have superior characteristics compared to their non-exporting peers. The paper is focused on identifying reasons behind this superiority of exporters by testing two hypothesis – self-selection and learning by doing hypothesis. The analysis is done on a sample of over 1,900 manufacturing firms annually, for the period 2013-2017. In line with previous empirical research, we found evidence in favor of the self-selection hypothesis. This means that more successful and more productive firms become exporters as a result of their performance i.e. they self-select themselves in the international market. In addition, our results suggest that, complementary to the self-selection process, there are some evidence of the validity of learning by doing hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Biljana Jovanovic, 2020. "Export and firms' performance in North Macedonia: self selection or learning by doing?," Working Papers 2020-01, National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia.
    • Handle: RePEc:mae:wpaper:2020-01
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nbrm.mk/content/Export_and_firms%E2%80%99_performance_in_North_Macedonia_self_selection_or_learning_by_doing_WP1-2020.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2020
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    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. 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.
    3. 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, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 903-947.
    4. 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.
    5. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm Level Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 1, pages 3-41, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Miljana Valdec & Jurica Zrnc, 2015. "The direction of causality between exports and firm performance: microeconomic evidence from Croatia using the matching approach," Financial Theory and Practice, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 39(1), pages 1-30.
    7. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    8. Cirera, Xavier & Lederman, Daniel & Máñez, Juan A. & Rochina, María E. & Sanchis, Juan A., 2015. "The export-productivity link for Brazilian manufacturing firms," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-31.
    9. Juan A. Máñez‐Castillejo & María E. Rochina‐Barrachina & Juan A. Sanchis‐Llopis, 2010. "Does Firm Size Affect Self‐selection and Learning‐by‐Exporting?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 315-346, March.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Francesco Serti & Chiara Tomasi, 2009. "Self-selection along different export and import markets," LEM Papers Series 2009/18, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    13. Roberto Alvarez & Ricardo A. López, 2005. "Exporting and performance: evidence from Chilean plants," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(4), pages 1384-1400, November.
    14. Mauro Pisu, 2008. "Export destinations and learning-by-exporting : Evidence from Belgium," Working Paper Research 140, National Bank of Belgium.
    15. Paloma López-García & Sergio Puente & Ángel Luis Gómez, 2007. "Firm productivity dynamics in Spain," Working Papers 0739, Banco de España.
    16. Girma, Sourafel & Greenaway, David & Kneller, Richard, 2003. "Export market exit and performance dynamics: a causality analysis of matched firms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 181-187, August.
    17. David Greenaway & Richard Kneller, 2007. "Firm heterogeneity, exporting and foreign direct investment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(517), pages 134-161, February.
    18. Jens Matthias Arnold & Katrin Hussinger, 2005. "Export Behavior and Firm Productivity in German Manufacturing: A Firm-Level Analysis," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 141(2), pages 219-243, July.
    19. Joze P. Damijan & Saso Polanec & Janez Prasnikar, 2004. "Self-selection, Export Market Heterogeneity and Productivity Improvements: Firm Level Evidence from Slovenia," LICOS Discussion Papers 14804, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    20. De Loecker, Jan, 2007. "Do exports generate higher productivity? Evidence from Slovenia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 69-98, September.
    21. Armando Silva & Óscar Afonso & Ana Paula Africano, 2010. "Do Portuguese manufacturing firms self select to exports?," FEP Working Papers 371, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    22. Sascha O. Becker & Andrea Ichino, 2002. "Estimation of average treatment effects based on propensity scores," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 2(4), pages 358-377, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Biljana Jovanovic & Nikola Naumovski, 2021. "Minimum wage reform and firms’ performance – evidence from North Macedonia," Working Papers 2021-02, National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia.

    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. Biljana Jovanovic, 2020. "Export and firms’ performance in North Macedonia: self selection or learning by doing?," Working Papers 2020-00, National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia.
    2. Miljana Valdec & Jurica Zrnc, 2015. "The direction of causality between exports and firm performance: microeconomic evidence from Croatia using the matching approach," Financial Theory and Practice, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 39(1), pages 1-30.
    3. Maggioni Daniela, 2012. "Learning by Exporting in Turkey: An Investigation for Existence and Channels," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Miguel Manjón & Juan Máñez & María Rochina-Barrachina & Juan Sanchis-Llopis, 2013. "Reconsidering learning by exporting," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(1), pages 5-22, March.
    5. Lior Gallo, 2011. "Export and Productivity - Evidence from Israel," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2011.08, Bank of Israel.
    6. Juan A. Máñez‐Castillejo & María E. Rochina‐Barrachina & Juan A. Sanchis‐Llopis, 2010. "Does Firm Size Affect Self‐selection and Learning‐by‐Exporting?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 315-346, March.
    7. Tarlok Singh, 2010. "Does International Trade Cause Economic Growth? A Survey," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1517-1564, November.
    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. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    10. Claudio Bravo-Ortega & Jose Miguel Benavente & Álvaro González, 2014. "Innovation, Exports, and Productivity: Learning and Self-Selection in Chile," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1S), pages 68-95, January.
    11. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "International Trade and Firm Performance: A Survey of Empirical Studies since 2006," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 2, pages 43-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    12. Valeria Gattai, 2015. "Internationalisation and performance at the firm-level: what we learn from Italy," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(4), pages 475-509, December.
    13. Sharma, Chandan & Mishra, Ritesh Kumar, 2015. "International trade and performance of firms: Unraveling export, import and productivity puzzle," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 61-74.
    14. Irene Brambilla & Nicolas Depetris Chauvin & Guido Porto, 2017. "Examining the Export Wage Premium in Developing Countries," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 447-475, August.
    15. Neil Foster & Roman Stöllinger & Carlo Altomonte & Richard Kneller, 2012. "The Trade-Productivity Nexus in the European Economy," FIW Specials series 005, FIW.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. Vito Amendolagine & Rosa Capolupo & Nadia Petragallo, 2010. "Export Status and Performance in a Panel of Italian Manufacturing Firms," SERIES 0027, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Jan 2010.
    19. Greenaway, David & Kneller, Richard, 2008. "Exporting, productivity and agglomeration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 919-939, July.
    20. Shevtsova, Yevgeniya, 2015. "International Trade and Productivity: The Role of Industry and Export Destination," MPRA Paper 69793, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    self selection; learning by doing; export; matching;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:mae:wpaper:2020-01. 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: Jovica Mitik (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nbrgvmk.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.