IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/pacecr/v25y2020i1p69-101.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reaching up and reaching out: The impact of competition on firms’ productivity and export decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Eric E. O. Opoku
  • Isabel K. M. Yan
  • Kate Hynes

Abstract

Using firm‐level data from 139 countries, this paper investigates the effect of competition in both the domestic and foreign markets on firm productivity and export decisions. Applying a sample selection endogenous treatment (SSET) Poisson model that tackles both the issue of endogenous sample selection and endogenous treatment at the same time, we document robust evidence that strong competition in the domestic market propels firms to be more productive, and decreasing domestic competition increases firms’ propensity to export. However, firms’ export intensity (i.e. how much they export) is not directly influenced by competition in the domestic market. Moreover, lower competition in the foreign market increases the propensity of domestic firms to export, enlarging the set of exporting firms to include firms with relatively smaller export amounts.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric E. O. Opoku & Isabel K. M. Yan & Kate Hynes, 2020. "Reaching up and reaching out: The impact of competition on firms’ productivity and export decisions," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 69-101, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:pacecr:v:25:y:2020:i:1:p:69-101
    DOI: 10.1111/1468-0106.12287
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0106.12287
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1468-0106.12287?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Horn, Henrik & Lang, Harald & Lundgren, Stefan, 1994. "Competition, long run contracts and internal inefficiencies in firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 213-233, February.
    2. Xavier Vives, 2008. "Innovation And Competitive Pressure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 419-469, December.
    3. Boone, J. & van Ours, J.C. & van der Wiel, H.P., 2007. "How (Not) to Measure Competition," Discussion Paper 2007-32, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    4. Joseph A. Clougherty & Anming Zhang, 2009. "Domestic rivalry and export performance: theory and evidence from international airline markets," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 440-468, May.
    5. 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.
    6. Wagner, Joachim, 2002. "The causal effects of exports on firm size and labor productivity: first evidence from a matching approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 287-292, October.
    7. Chen, Natalie & Imbs, Jean & Scott, Andrew, 2009. "The dynamics of trade and competition," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 50-62, February.
    8. Jan Boone & Jan Ours & Henry Wiel, 2013. "When is the Price Cost Margin a Safe Way to Measure Changes in Competition?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 45-67, March.
    9. Markusen, James R. & Venables, Anthony J., 1999. "Foreign direct investment as a catalyst for industrial development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 335-356, February.
    10. De Loecker, Jan, 2007. "Do exports generate higher productivity? Evidence from Slovenia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 69-98, September.
    11. Samuel Bazzi & Michael A. Clemens, 2013. "Blunt Instruments: Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Identifying the Causes of Economic Growth," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 152-186, April.
    12. Gao Shangquan, 2000. "Economic Globalization: Trends, Risks and Risk Prevention," CDP Background Papers 001, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    13. Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2005. "Exporting raises productivity in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 373-391, December.
    14. Holger Görg & David Greenaway, 2016. "Much Ado about Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 9, pages 163-189, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    15. 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.
    16. Roberto Alvarez & Rolando Campusano, 2014. "Does Competition Spur Innovation in Developing Countries?," Working Papers wp388, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    17. Paolo Buccirossi & Lorenzo Ciari & Tomaso Duso & Giancarlo Spagnolo & Cristiana Vitale, 2013. "Competition Policy and Productivity Growth: An Empirical Assessment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1324-1336, October.
    18. 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.
    19. Baghdasaryan, Delia & la Cour, Lisbeth, 2013. "Competition, ownership and productivity. A panel analysis of Czech firms," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 86-100.
    20. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen, 2004. "Why Some Firms Export," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 561-569, May.
    21. Blalock, Garrick & Gertler, Paul J., 2004. "Learning from exporting revisited in a less developed setting," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 397-416, December.
    22. Chad Syverson, 2004. "Market Structure and Productivity: A Concrete Example," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(6), pages 1181-1222, December.
    23. George A. Kahn, 2000. "Global economic integration : opportunities and challenges : a summary of the Bank's 2000 economic symposium," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 1-1.
    24. Črt Kostevc, 2009. "Foreign Market Competition as a Determinant of Exporter Performance: Evidence from Slovenian Manufacturing Firms," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(6), pages 888-913, June.
    25. 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.
    26. Xavier Giroud & Holger M. Mueller, 2011. "Corporate Governance, Product Market Competition, and Equity Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 563-600, April.
    27. Hadlock, Charles J. & Sonti, Ramana, 2012. "Financial Strength and Product Market Competition: Evidence from Asbestos Litigation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 179-211, February.
    28. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    29. Mueller, Holger & Giroud, Xavier, 2008. "Corporate Governance, Product Market Competition, and Equity Prices," CEPR Discussion Papers 6974, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    30. Greenaway, David & Sousa, Nuno & Wakelin, Katharine, 2004. "Do domestic firms learn to export from multinationals?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 1027-1043, November.
    31. M. Diaz & Rosario Sanchez, 2008. "Firm size and productivity in Spain: a stochastic frontier analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 315-323, March.
    32. Amin, Mohammad, 2008. "Competition and demographics," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4514, The World Bank.
    33. Mohammad Amin, 2011. "Competition and Demographics in Large Indian Cities," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(9), pages 1410-1430, August.
    34. Love, James H. & Roper, Stephen & Zhou, Ying, 2016. "Experience, age and exporting performance in UK SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 806-819.
    35. Nickell, Stephen & Nicolitsas, Daphne & Dryden, Neil, 1997. "What makes firms perform well?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 783-796, April.
    36. Mr. Tushar Poddar, 2004. "Domestic Competition Spurs Exports: The Indian Example," IMF Working Papers 2004/173, International Monetary Fund.
    37. Aidan Hollis, 2003. "Industrial Concentration, Output, and Trade: An Empirical Exploration," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 22(2), pages 103-119, March.
    38. Boone, J. & van Ours, J.C. & van der Wiel, H.P., 2007. "How (Not) to Measure Competition," Discussion Paper 2007-32, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    39. Charles Bérubé & Marc Duhamel & Daniel Ershov, 2012. "Market Incentives for Business Innovation: Results from Canada," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 47-65, March.
    40. Louis Amato & Christie Amato, 2001. "The Effects of Global Competition on Total Factor Productivity in U.S. Manufacturing," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 19(4), pages 405-421, December.
    41. Aggrey Niringiye & Richard Tuyiragize, 2010. "Determinants of a Firm's Level of Exports: Evidence from Manufacturing Firms in Uganda," Working Papers 196, African Economic Research Consortium, Research Department.
    42. George A. Kahn, 2000. "Global economic integration : opportunities and challenges : a summary of the Bank's 2000 Symposium," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 85(Q IV), pages 5-15.
    43. Xu, Jin, 2012. "Profitability and capital structure: Evidence from import penetration," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 427-446.
    44. Mariko Sakakibara & Michael E. Porter, 2001. "Competing At Home To Win Abroad: Evidence From Japanese Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 310-322, May.
    45. Araújo, Bruno César & Paz, Lourenço S., 2014. "The effects of exporting on wages: An evaluation using the 1999 Brazilian exchange rate devaluation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 1-16.
    46. Jianmin Tang & Weimin Wang, 2005. "Product Market Competition, Skill Shortages and Productivity: Evidence from Canadian Manufacturing Firms," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 317-339, July.
    47. Cherchye, Laurens & Verriest, Arnt, 2016. "The impact of home-country institutions and competition on firm profitability," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 831-846.
    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. Kapri, Kul, 2021. "Court fairness and firm level export decisions," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 269-277.

    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. Jingfang Zhang & Emir Malikov, 2023. "Detecting Learning by Exporting and from Exporters," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 1-19, August.
    2. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    3. Neil Foster & Roman Stöllinger & Carlo Altomonte & Richard Kneller, 2012. "The Trade-Productivity Nexus in the European Economy," FIW Specials series 005, FIW.
    4. Dai, Mi & Maitra, Madhura & Yu, Miaojie, 2016. "Unexceptional exporter performance in China? The role of processing trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 177-189.
    5. BOERMANS, Martijn Adriaan, 2013. "LEARNING-BY-EXPORTING AND DESTINATION EFFECTS: EVIDENCE FROM AFRICAN SMEs," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 13(2), pages 149-168.
    6. DU, Julan & LU, Yi & TAO, Zhigang & YU, Linhui, 2012. "Do domestic and foreign exporters differ in learning by exporting? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 296-315.
    7. Lu, Jiangyong & Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang, 2010. "Exporting behavior of foreign affiliates: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 197-205, July.
    8. Martijn Boermans & Hein Roelfsema, 2015. "The Effects of Internationalization on Innovation: Firm-Level Evidence for Transition Economies," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 333-350, April.
    9. Tarlok Singh, 2010. "Does International Trade Cause Economic Growth? A Survey," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1517-1564, November.
    10. Yang, Yong & Mallick, Sushanta, 2014. "Explaining cross-country differences in exporting performance: The role of country-level macroeconomic environment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 246-259.
    11. Aleksandra Parteka & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2013. "The Impact of Trade Integration with the European Union on Productivity in a Posttransition Economy: The Case of Polish Manufacturing Sectors," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(2), pages 84-104, March.
    12. Ma, Yue & Tang, Heiwai & Zhang, Yifan, 2014. "Factor Intensity, product switching, and productivity: Evidence from Chinese exporters," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 349-362.
    13. 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..
    14. Ito, Banri & Xu, Zhaoyuan & Yashiro, Naomitsu, 2015. "Does agglomeration promote internationalization of Chinese firms?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 109-121.
    15. Nicholas Sheard, 2014. "Learning to Export and the Timing of Entry to Export Markets," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 536-560, August.
    16. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J. R. Elliott & Supreeya Virakul, 2010. "Firm Heterogeneity, Origin of Ownership and Export Participation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 264-291, February.
    17. Harrison, Ann & Rodríguez-Clare, Andrés, 2010. "Trade, Foreign Investment, and Industrial Policy for Developing Countries," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4039-4214, Elsevier.
    18. 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.
    19. Rudy Douven & Remco Mocking & Ilaria Mosca, 2012. "The Effect of Physician Fees and Density Differences on Regional Variation in Hospital Treatments," CPB Discussion Paper 208.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    20. Chiara Franco & Subash Sasidharan, 2009. "MNEs and Export Spillovers: An Analysis of Indian Manufacturing Industries," Working Papers 2009-049, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

    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:bla:pacecr:v:25:y:2020:i:1:p:69-101. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1361-374X .

    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.