IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2016-39.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Importing and firm performance: New evidence from South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Lawrence Edwards
  • Marco Sanfilippo
  • Asha Sundaram

Abstract

This paper uses firm-level data from company tax declarations to analyse the complementary relationship between direct access to imported intermediate inputs and manufacturing firm performance in South Africa. There are three main findings. The first is on firm heterogeneity, showing that importers consistently demonstrate premiums in terms of productivity, employment, wages, and capital intensity in production compared to firms that do not trade. The second supports the hypothesis of firm learning by importing.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrence Edwards & Marco Sanfilippo & Asha Sundaram, 2016. "Importing and firm performance: New evidence from South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-39, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2016-39
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2016-39.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Feng, Ling & Li, Zhiyuan & Swenson, Deborah L., 2016. "The connection between imported intermediate inputs and exports: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 86-101.
    2. Davide Castellani & Francesco Serti & Chiara Tomasi, 2010. "Firms in International Trade: Importers’ and Exporters’ Heterogeneity in Italian Manufacturing Industry," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 424-457, March.
    3. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "A survey of empirical studies using transaction level data on exports and imports," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(1), pages 215-225, February.
    4. Dani Rodrik, 2008. "Understanding South Africa's economic puzzles," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(4), pages 769-797, October.
    5. Kalina Manova & Zhiwei Zhang, 2012. "Export Prices Across Firms and Destinations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(1), pages 379-436.
    6. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2013. "Input-Trade Liberalization, Export Prices and Quality Upgrading," Sciences Po publications 2013-13, Sciences Po.
    7. Ackerberg, Daniel & Lanier Benkard, C. & Berry, Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 2007. "Econometric Tools for Analyzing Market Outcomes," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 63, Elsevier.
    8. Colantone, Italo & Crinò, Rosario, 2014. "New imported inputs, new domestic products," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 147-165.
    9. Mary Amiti & Jozef Konings, 2007. "Trade Liberalization, Intermediate Inputs, and Productivity: Evidence from Indonesia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1611-1638, December.
    10. Maria Bas, 2012. "Input-trade liberalization and firm export decisions: Evidence from Argentina," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01297739, HAL.
    11. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2006. "Globalization and the Gains From Variety," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(2), pages 541-585.
    12. Amit Khandelwal, 2010. "The Long and Short (of) Quality Ladders," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(4), pages 1450-1476.
    13. Kasahara, Hiroyuki & Rodrigue, Joel, 2008. "Does the use of imported intermediates increase productivity? Plant-level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 106-118, August.
    14. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Khan, 2014. "Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm-level evidence from France," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01297202, HAL.
    15. Rhys Jenkins, 2008. "Trade, Technology and Employment in South Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 60-79.
    16. László Halpern & Miklós Koren & Adam Szeidl, 2015. "Imported Inputs and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(12), pages 3660-3703, December.
    17. Jože P. Damijan & Jozef Konings & Sašo Polanec, 2014. "Import Churning and Export Performance of Multi-product Firms," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(11), pages 1483-1506, November.
    18. Haichao Fan & Yao Amber Li & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2015. "Trade Liberalization, Quality, and Export Prices," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1033-1051, December.
    19. Fernandes, Ana M. & Freund, Caroline & Pierola, Martha Denisse, 2016. "Exporter behavior, country size and stage of development: Evidence from the exporter dynamics database," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 121-137.
    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. L Edwards, 2001. "Globalisation And The Skills Bias Of Occupational Employment In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 69(1), pages 40-71, March.
    22. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Amit Kumar Khandelwal & Nina Pavcnik & Petia Topalova, 2010. "Imported Intermediate Inputs and Domestic Product Growth: Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(4), pages 1727-1767.
    23. Lawrence Edwards, 2005. "Has South Africa Liberalised Its Trade?," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 73(4), pages 754-775, December.
    24. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2014. "Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm-level evidence from France," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(2), pages 241-275, May.
    25. Maurice Kugler & Eric Verhoogen, 2009. "Plants and Imported Inputs: New Facts and an Interpretation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 501-507, May.
    26. Eaton, Jonathan & Kortum, Samuel, 2001. "Technology, trade, and growth: A unified framework," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 742-755, May.
    27. Bas, Maria, 2012. "Input-trade liberalization and firm export decisions: Evidence from Argentina," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 481-493.
    28. Schor, Adriana, 2004. "Heterogeneous productivity response to tariff reduction. Evidence from Brazilian manufacturing firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 373-396, December.
    29. Kasahara, Hiroyuki & Lapham, Beverly, 2013. "Productivity and the decision to import and export: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 297-316.
    30. 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..
    31. Petia Topalova & Amit Khandelwal, 2011. "Trade Liberalization and Firm Productivity: The Case of India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 995-1009, August.
    32. Andreas Wörgötter & Christopher Loewald & Konstantin Makrelov, 2021. "Addressing low labour utilisation in South Africa," Working Papers 27, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    33. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    34. Adriana Schor, 2004. "Heterogeneous Productivity Response to Tariff Reduction: Evidence from Brazilian Manufacturing Firms," NBER Working Papers 10544, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Bas, Maria & Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa, 2015. "Input-trade liberalization, export prices and quality upgrading," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 250-262.
    36. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2009. "On estimating firm-level production functions using proxy variables to control for unobservables," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 112-114, September.
    37. repec:fth:bosecd:110 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Carli Bezuidenhout & Marianne Matthee & Neil Rankin, 2021. "Exporting and the wage premium: The case of South African manufacturing firms," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 2031-2051, November.
    2. Torres Mazzi, Caio & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2021. "Imported intermediates, technological capabilities and exports: Evidence from Brazilian firm-level data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).

    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. Lawrence Edwards & Marco Sanfilippo & Asha Sundaram, 2016. "Importing and firm performance: New evidence from South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 039, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Lawrence Edwards & Marco Sanfilippo & Asha Sundaram, 2020. "Importing and Productivity: An Analysis of South African Manufacturing Firms," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 57(2), pages 411-432, September.
    3. Torres Mazzi, Caio & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2021. "Imported intermediates, technological capabilities and exports: Evidence from Brazilian firm-level data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    4. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2014. "Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm-level evidence from France," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(2), pages 241-275, May.
    5. Feng, Ling & Li, Zhiyuan & Swenson, Deborah L., 2016. "The connection between imported intermediate inputs and exports: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 86-101.
    6. C Sharma, 2016. "Does importing more inputs raise productivity and exports? Some evidence from Indian manufacturing," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 21(1), pages 1-23, March.
    7. Francisco Requena & Guadalupe Serrano & Raúl Mínguez, 2022. "The role of imports in the intensive margin of exports," Working Papers 2206, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    8. Maria Bas & Caroline Paunov, 2019. "What gains and distributional implications result from trade liberalization," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 19003, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    9. Maria Bas & Åsa Johansson & Fabrice Murtin & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2016. "The effects of input tariffs on productivity: panel data evidence for OECD countries," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(2), pages 401-424, May.
    10. Maria Bas & Antoine Berthou, 2017. "Does Input-Trade Liberalization Affect Firms’ Foreign Technology Choice?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 31(2), pages 351-384.
    11. Pol Antràs & Davin Chor, 2021. "Global Value Chains," NBER Working Papers 28549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Fan, Haichao & Li, Yao Amber & Yeaple, Stephen R., 2018. "On the relationship between quality and productivity: Evidence from China's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 28-49.
    13. Robert J. R. Elliott & Liza Jabbour & Liyun Zhang, 2016. "Firm productivity and importing: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(3), pages 1086-1124, August.
    14. Xavier Cirera & Daniel Lederman & Juan A. Máñez Castillejo & María E. Rochina Barrachina & Juan A. Sanchis-Llopis, 2021. "Firm productivity gains in a period of slow trade liberalization: evidence from Brazil," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(1), pages 57-87, April.
    15. Marco Grazzi & Nanditha Mathew & Daniele Moschella, 2017. "Efficiency, innovation, and imported inputs: determinants of export performance among Indian manufacturing firms," LEM Papers Series 2017/09, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    16. Deasy D. Pane & Arianto A. Patunru, 2023. "The role of imported inputs in firms’ productivity and exports: evidence from Indonesia," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 159(3), pages 629-672, August.
    17. Jiayun Xu & Qilin Mao, 2018. "On the relationship between intermediate input imports and export quality in China," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(3), pages 429-467, July.
    18. Cecília Hornok & Balázs Muraközy, 2019. "Markups of Exporters and Importers: Evidence from Hungary," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(3), pages 1303-1333, July.
    19. Bas, Maria & Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa, 2015. "Input-trade liberalization, export prices and quality upgrading," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 250-262.
    20. Imbruno, Michele & Ketterer, Tobias D., 2018. "Energy efficiency gains from importing intermediate inputs: Firm-level evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 117-141.

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2016-39. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.