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Exports and Profitability: First Evidence for German Manufacturing Firms

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  • Fryges, Helmut
  • Wagner, Joachim

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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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research in its series ZEW Discussion Papers with number 08-085.

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Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:7427

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Keywords: exports; profitability; micro data; Germany;

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References

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  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.
  2. Helmut Fryges & Joachim Wagner, 2007. "Exports and Productivity Growth - First Evidence from a Continuous Treatment Approach," Jena Economic Research Papers 2007-063, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Max-Planck-Institute of Economics.
  3. Joachim Wagner, 2007. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm-level Data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 60-82, 01.
  4. Schmalensee, Richard., 1987. "Inter-industry studies of structure and performance," Working papers 1874-87., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
  5. 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.
  6. Hennart, J.M.A., 2007. "The theoretical rationale for a multinationality - performance relationship," Open Access publications from Tilburg University urn:nbn:nl:ui:12-284201, Tilburg University.
  7. 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.
  8. Ottaviano, Gianmarco & Mayer, Thierry, 2007. "happy few: the internationalisation of European firms New facts based on firm-level evidence," Open Access publications from Sciences Po info:hdl:2441/10147, Sciences Po.
  9. 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.
  10. Wagner, Joachim & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2008. "Understanding cross-country differences in export premia - Comparable evidence for 14 countries," Open Access publications from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven urn:hdl:123456789/199893, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
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Cited by:
  1. Sebastian Petrick & Katrin Rehdanz & Ulrich J. Wagner, 2011. "Energy Use Patterns in German Industry: Evidence from Plant-level Data," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Department of Statistics and Economics, vol. 231(3), pages 379-414, June.
  2. 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.
  3. Joachim Wagner, 2012. "New Methods for the Analysis of Links between International Firm Activities and Firm Performance: A Practitioner’s Guide," Working Paper Series in Economics 227, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
  4. Lodefalk, Magnus, 2012. "The Role of Services for Manufacturing Firms’ Exports," Working Papers 2012:10, Örebro University, School of Business.
  5. Wagner, Joachim, 2011. "Productivity and International Firm Activities: What Do We Know?," IZA Policy Papers 23, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Joachim Wagner, 2012. "International trade and firm performance: a survey of empirical studies since 2006," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 235-267, June.
  7. Marco Grazzi, 2009. "Trade and Profitability: Is there an export premium? Evidence from Italian manufacturing firms," LEM Papers Series 2009/16, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

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