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Exports and Firm Characteristics in Germany: New Evidence from Representative Panel Data

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  • Joachim Wagner

Abstract

Germany is one of the leading actors on the world market for manufactured goods, but not every firm from a manufacturing industry in Germany is an exporter. In 2006, the share of exporters in all enterprises was 69 percent in West Germany and 52 percent in East Germany. Reliable information on the characteristics of exporting and non-exporting firms is important to guide theorists and policy makers in an evidence-based way. This paper uses recently released rich, high-quality data for a large representative panel of enterprises from German manufacturing industries to investigate the links between firm characteristics and export activities, demonstrating the decisive role of human capital intensity for exporting. It links these findings to the recent literature from the new new trade theory on international activities of heterogeneous firms, which emphasizes the role of productivity in exporting. It shows that productivity is important for exporting as is hypothesized in the formal theoretical models, but that contrary to the assumption made in these models, productivity is not (only) the result from a random draw from the productivity distribution—it is strongly positively related to human capital intensity.

Suggested Citation

  • Joachim Wagner, 2011. "Exports and Firm Characteristics in Germany: New Evidence from Representative Panel Data," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 57(2), pages 107-143.
    • Handle: RePEc:aeq:aeqaeq:v57_y2011_i2_q2_p107-143
    DOI: 10.3790/aeq.57.2.107
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Joachim Wagner, 2014. "Credit constraints and exports: evidence for German manufacturing enterprises," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 294-302, January.
    2. Joachim Wagner, 2015. "A Note on Firm Age and the Margins of Exports: First Evidence from Germany," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 93-102, June.
    3. Joachim Wagner, 2017. "R&D Activities and Extensive Margins of Exports in Manufacturing Enterprises: First Evidence for Germany," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 232-244, May.
    4. Kölling, Arnd & Mertens, Antje, 2020. "Exporting behavior and the demand for skills in German establishments," Working Papers 97, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute of Management Berlin (IMB).
    5. Maria Bramati & Alberto Gaggero & Edna Solomon, 2015. "International Trade and Domestic Competition: Evidence from Belgium," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 46(4), pages 383-399, June.
    6. Christian Pfeifer & Joachim Wagner, 2014. "Is innovative firm behavior correlated with age and gender composition of the workforce? Evidence from a new type of data for German enterprises [Besteht ein Zusammenhang zwischen dem Innovationsve," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 47(3), pages 223-231, September.
    7. Wagner Joachim, 2016. "Still Different After All These Years Extensive and Intensive Margins of Exports in East and West German Manufacturing Enterprises," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 236(2), pages 297-322, March.
    8. Beck, Thorsten & Bednarek, Peter & te Kaat, Daniel Marcel & von Westernhagen, Natalja, 2021. "Exchange rate depreciations and local business cycles: The role of bank loan supply," Discussion Papers 52/2021, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    9. Wagner Joachim, 2019. "Does It Pay to Be Active on Many Foreign Markets? Profitability in German Multi-Market Exporters and Importers from Manufacturing Industries," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 70(1), pages 1-13, April.
    10. Joachim Wagner, 2017. "It pays to be active on many foreign markets Profitability in German multi-market exporters and importers from manufacturing industries," Working Paper Series in Economics 373, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    11. Ahmed Fayez Abdelgouad, 2016. "Exporting and Workforce Skills-Intensity in the Egyptian Manufacturing Firms: Empirical Evidence Using World Bank Firm-Level Data for Egypt," Working Paper Series in Economics 358, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    exports; firm characteristics; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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