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Export variety and country productivity

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Author Info
Feenstra, Robert
Hiau Looi Kee

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Abstract

The authors study the link between export product variety and country productivity based on data from 34 industrial and developing countries, from 1982 to 1997. They measure export product variety by the share of U.S. imports on the set of goods exported by each sampled country relative to the world. It is a theoretically sound index which is consistent with within-country GDP maximization, as well as cross-country comparison. They construct country productivity based on relative endowments and product variety. Increases in output product variety improve country productivity as the new mix of output may better use resources of the economy, and improve allocation efficiency. Such effects depend on the elasticity of substitution in production between the different varieties. The more different the varieties are in terms of production, the more efficient it is to use the endowments of the economy when a new variety is available, which leads to productivity gains. In addition, as suggested in the literature, export product variety depends on trade costs, such as tariffs, distance, and transport costs. Such trade cost variables are used as instruments to help the authors identify the effects of export variety on country productivity. Empirical evidence supports their hypothesis. Overall, while export variety accounts for only 2 percent of cross-country productivity differences, it explains 13 percent of within-country productivity growth. A 10 percent increase in the export variety of all industries leads to a 1.3 percent increase in country productivity, while a 10 percentage point increase in tariffs facing an exporting country leads to a 2 percent fall in country productivity.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 3412.

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Date of creation: 01 Sep 2004
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3412

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Related research
Keywords: Municipal Financial Management; Environmental Economics&Policies; Banks&Banking Reform; Economic Theory&Research; Labor Policies; Economic Theory&Research; Environmental Economics&Policies; Banks&Banking Reform; Municipal Financial Management; Poverty and Trade;

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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 & Jonathan Eaton & J. Bradford Jensen & Samuel Kortum, 2000. "Plants and productivity in international trade," Working Papers 00-08, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
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  2. David E. Weinstein & Christian Broda, 2004. "Globalization And The Gains From Variety," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 327, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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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. Dalila NICET- CHENAF (GREThA UMR CNRS 5113) & Eric ROUGIER (GREThA UMR CNRS 5113), 2008. "Recent exports matter: export discoveries, FDI and Growth, an empirical assessment for MENA countries," Cahiers du GREThA 2008-22, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Robert Feenstra & Hiau Looi Kee, 2004. "On the Measurement of Product Variety in Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 145-149, May. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Matthee, Marianne & Naude, Wim, 2007. "Export Diversity and Regional Growth: Empirical Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  4. Ralf Ruhwedel & Michael Funke, 2005. "Export Variety and Economic Growth in East European Transition Economies," Quantitative Macroeconomics Working Papers 20502, Hamburg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Deborah L. Swenson, 2007. "Multinationals and the Creation of Chinese Trade Linkages," NBER Working Papers 13271, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Armando Castelar Pinneiro & Regis Bonelli, 2008. "Nuevas Actividades Exportadoras en Brasil: Ventaja Comparativa, Políticas o Auto-Descubrimiento?," RES Working Papers 3257, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  7. Dennis, Allen & Shepherd, Ben, 2007. "Trade costs, barriers to entry, and export diversification in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4368, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  8. Haddad, Mona, 2007. "Trade integration in East Asia : the Role of China and production networks," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4160, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  9. Ferreira, Gustavo, 2009. "From Coffee Beans to Microchips: Export Diversification and Economic Growth in Costa Rica," 2009 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2009, Atlanta, Georgia 47178, Southern Agricultural Economics Association. [Downloadable!]
  10. Armando Castelar Pinneiro & Regis Bonelli, 2008. "New Export Activities in Brazil: Comparative Advantage, Policy or Self-Discovery?," RES Working Papers 3256, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  11. Causa, Orsetta & Cohen, Daniel, 2006. "Industrial Productivity in 51 Countries, Rich and Poor," CEPR Discussion Papers 5549, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Mitchell, Lorraine, 2006. "Variety, Agricultural Trade, and Income," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21246, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  13. Robert C. Feenstra & Yongmin Chen, 2005. "Buyer Investment, Product Variety, and Intrafirm Trade," NBER Working Papers 11752, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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