IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/streco/v25y2013icp146-158.html

Self-selection into export markets by business services firms – Evidence from France, Germany and the United Kingdom

Author

Listed:
  • Temouri, Yama
  • Vogel, Alexander
  • Wagner, Joachim

Abstract

This study investigates business services firms that (start to) export, comparing exporters to firms that serve the national market only. We estimate identically specified empirical models using comparable enterprise data from France, Germany, and the UK. Our findings show that exporters are on average more productive and pay higher wages in all three countries. However, results for profitability differ across borders, where profitability of exporters is significantly smaller in Germany, significantly larger in France, and does not differ significantly in the UK. The results for wages and productivity hold in the years before firms start exporting, which indicates self-selection into exporting of more productive services firms that pay higher wages. The surprising finding of self-selection of less profitable German services firms into exporting does not show up among firms from France and the UK. In all three countries we do not find evidence for positive effects of exporting on firm performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Temouri, Yama & Vogel, Alexander & Wagner, Joachim, 2013. "Self-selection into export markets by business services firms – Evidence from France, Germany and the United Kingdom," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 146-158.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:25:y:2013:i:c:p:146-158
    DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2012.02.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954349X12000094
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.strueco.2012.02.004?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexander Vogel, 2009. "The German Business Services Statistics Panel 2003 to 2007," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 129(3), pages 515-522.
    2. Elhanan Helpman & Marc J. Melitz & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2004. "Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 300-316, March.
    3. Henk Kox & Hugo Rojas-Romagosa, 2010. "Exports and Productivity Selection Effects for Dutch Firms," De Economist, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 295-322, September.
    4. Alexander Vogel & Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Profitability — First Evidence for German Business Services Enterprises," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 8, pages 279-310, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. 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..
    6. John W. Budd & Jozef Konings & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2005. "Wages and International Rent Sharing in Multinational Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 73-84, February.
    7. 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.
    8. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2007. "Replication in Economics," NBER Working Papers 13026, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Breinlich, Holger & Criscuolo, Chiara, 2011. "International trade in services: A portrait of importers and exporters," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 188-206, July.
    10. Helmut Fryges & Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Profitability — First Evidence for German Manufacturing Firms," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 7, pages 245-277, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2000. "The Craft of Labormetrics," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(3), pages 363-380, April.
    12. Markus Kelle & Jörn Kleinert, 2010. "German Firms in Service Trade," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 56(1), pages 51-72.
    13. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    14. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2008. "On the Failure of the Bootstrap for Matching Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 76(6), pages 1537-1557, November.
    15. 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.
    16. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2007. "Viewpoint: Replication in economics," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 40(3), pages 715-733, August.
    17. repec:spr:weltar:v:144:y:2008:i:4:p:596-635 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Joachim Wagner, 2008. "Export Entry, Export Exit and Productivity in German Manufacturing Industries," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 169-180.
    19. Heckman, James J. & Lalonde, Robert J. & Smith, Jeffrey A., 1999. "The economics and econometrics of active labor market programs," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 31, pages 1865-2097, Elsevier.
    20. Jozef Konings & Alan Patrick Murphy, 2006. "Do Multinational Enterprises Relocate Employment to Low-Wage Regions? Evidence from European Multinationals," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 142(2), pages 267-286, July.
    21. Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Higher Wages in Exporting Firms: Self-selection, Export Effect, or Both? First Evidence from Linked Employer–Employee Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 6, pages 215-241, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    22. Alexander Vogel, 2009. "Exporter performance in the German business services sector," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(7), pages 1015-1031, May.
    23. Mirabelle Muûls & Mauro Pisu, 2009. "Imports and Exports at the Level of the Firm: Evidence from Belgium," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 692-734, May.
    24. Schmalensee, Richard, 1989. "Inter-industry studies of structure and performance," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 16, pages 951-1009, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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..
    2. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "From Estimation Results to Stylized Facts: Twelve Recommendations for Empirical Research in International Activities of Heterogeneous Firms," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 15, pages 479-514, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports, Imports and Profitability: First Evidence for Manufacturing Enterprises," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 9, pages 311-338, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Heather D Gibson & Georgia Pavlou, 2017. "Exporting and performance:evidence from Greek firms," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 45, pages 7-30, July.
    5. Stefanie Haller & Jože Damijan & Ville Kaitila & Črt Kostevc & Mika Maliranta & Emmanuel Milet & Daniel Mirza & Matija Rojec, 2014. "Trading firms in the services sectors: comparable evidence from four EU countries," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(3), pages 471-505, August.
    6. Joachim Wagner, 2011. "Productivity and International Firm Activities: What do we know?," Working Paper Series in Economics 194, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    7. Maria Kalogera & Antonios Georgopoulos & Panagiota Boura, 2020. "Is there a link between firms? export activity and economic performance in a Small Open Economy? Evidence from Greece," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 10112601, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    8. Joachim Wagner, 2015. "New Methods for the Analysis of Links between International Firm Activities and Firm Performance: A Practitioner's Guide," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 704-715, April.
    9. Jože Damijan & Stefanie A. Haller & Ville Kaitila & Črt Kostevc & Mika Maliranta & Emmanuel Milet & Daniel Mirza & Matija Rojec, 2015. "The Performance of Trading Firms in the Services Sectors – Comparable Evidence from Four EU Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(12), pages 1809-1849, December.
    10. Joachim Wagner, 2014. "Is export diversification good for profitability? First evidence for manufacturing enterprises in Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(33), pages 4083-4090, November.
    11. repec:wsr:ecbook:2013:i:iv-005 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Markus Kelle & Jörn Kleinert & Horst Raff & Farid Toubal, 2013. "Cross-border and Foreign Affiliate Sales of Services: Evidence from German Microdata," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(11), pages 1373-1392, November.
    13. Diana Alexandra Gonçalves Costa & Ana Teresa Cunha de Pinho Tavares Lehmann, 2015. "Performance Differences between Exporters and Non-Exporters: the Case of Portugal," FEP Working Papers 569, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    14. Yvonne Wolfmayr & Elisabeth Christen & Michael Pfaffermayr, 2013. "Pattern, Determinants and Dynamics of Austrian Service Exports – A Firmlevel Analysis," FIW Research Reports series IV-005, FIW.
    15. Sharma, Chandan & Mishra, Ritesh Kumar, 2015. "International trade and performance of firms: Unraveling export, import and productivity puzzle," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 61-74.
    16. Łukasz Matuszczak, 2020. "What are the determinants of international trade in services? Evidence from firm-level data for Poland," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 51(2), pages 143-166.
    17. Görg, Holger & Hanley, Aoife, 2017. "Globalization: Implications for firms in Germany," KCG Working Papers 5, Kiel Centre for Globalization (KCG).
    18. Sharma, Chandan, 2018. "Exporting, access of foreign technology, and firms’ performance: Searching the link in Indian manufacturing," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 46-62.
    19. Dirk Engel & Christoph M. Schmidt & Vivien Procher, 2010. "The Asymmetries of a Small World: Entry Into and Withdrawal From International Markets by French Firms," Ruhr Economic Papers 0192, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    20. Fulvio Castellacci, 2014. "Service Firms Heterogeneity, International Collaborations and Export Participation," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 259-285, June.
    21. Schank, Thorsten & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2008. "Higher wages in exporting firms: self-selection, export effect, or both? First evidence from German linked employer-employee data," Discussion Papers 55, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L80 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - General

    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:eee:streco:v:25:y:2013:i:c:p:146-158. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/525148 .

    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.