IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v8y2016i11p1173-d82836.html

Does Firms’ Innovation Promote Export Growth Sustainably?—Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Liangfeng Hao

    (School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing 210000, China)

  • Bin Qiu

    (School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing 210000, China)

  • Lisette Cervantes

    (School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing 210000, China)

Abstract

Recent theoretical analysis and empirical studies have emphasized that firms’ innovation could significantly improve export growth. However, the positive effect of innovation on exports is likely to change due to unstable domestic offsetting for innovation and increasing worldwide competition for trade. This study aims to explore the dynamic link between them. We first develop a theoretical model between innovation and export growth based on the theory of heterogeneity. Export growth is measured through the dimensions of extensive margin and intensive margin so as to better investigate the effect of innovation on export performance. The propositions of mechanism analysis reveal that the effect of innovation on exports is non-linear rather than sustainable. An empirical study is followed to test the propositions by using data from a representative panel of Chinese manufacturing firms. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, the results show an inverted U-shaped relationship between innovation and extensive margin and a U-shaped relationship between innovation and intensive margin. The non-linear relations are verified by a threshold effect test. Further study shows less innovation and more firms on the left side of the relation curves. The distribution suggests irregular innovation ability among the exporters. Moreover, the role of innovation is more important for export growth and the corresponding threshold is higher in terms of high technological sectors. The contribution of this study is to introduce a comprehensive framework to investigate the dynamic effect of innovation on export growth, serving as a modest spur to induce the following studies to explore the sustainability of innovation effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Liangfeng Hao & Bin Qiu & Lisette Cervantes, 2016. "Does Firms’ Innovation Promote Export Growth Sustainably?—Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:11:p:1173-:d:82836
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/11/1173/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/11/1173/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen & Stephen J. Redding & Peter K. Schott, 2007. "Firms in International Trade," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 105-130, Summer.
    2. Aida Caldera, 2010. "Innovation and exporting: evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(4), pages 657-689, December.
    3. Cesare Imbriani & Piergiuseppe Morone & Giuseppina Testa, 2014. "Innovation, quality and exports: The case of Italian SMEs," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 1089-1111, December.
    4. Bee Yan Aw & Mark J. Roberts & Tor Winston, 2005. "The Complementary Role of Exports and R&D Investments as Sources of Productivity Growth," NBER Working Papers 11774, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Andrew B. Bernard & Jonathan Eaton & J. Bradford Jensen & Samuel Kortum, 2003. "Plants and Productivity in International Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1268-1290, September.
    6. Ann Bartel & Casey Ichniowski & Kathryn Shaw, 2007. "How Does Information Technology Affect Productivity? Plant-Level Comparisons of Product Innovation, Process Improvement, and Worker Skills," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1721-1758.
    7. Richard Harris & John Moffat, 2011. "R&D, Innovation and Exporting," SERC Discussion Papers 0073, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Roberts, Mark J & Tybout, James R, 1997. "The Decision to Export in Colombia: An Empirical Model of Entry with Sunk Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 545-564, September.
    9. Zélia Serrasqueiro & Paulo Maçãs Nunes, 2008. "Performance and size: empirical evidence from Portuguese SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 195-217, August.
    10. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    11. 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..
    12. Jean Imbs & Romain Wacziarg, 2003. "Stages of Diversification," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 63-86, March.
    13. Krugman, Paul, 1979. "A Model of Innovation, Technology Transfer, and the World Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(2), pages 253-266, April.
    14. Gabriel J Felbermayr & Wilhelm Kohler, 2014. "Exploring the Intensive and Extensive Margins of World Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: European Economic Integration, WTO Membership, Immigration and Offshoring, chapter 4, pages 115-148, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    15. Yeaple, Stephen Ross, 2005. "A simple model of firm heterogeneity, international trade, and wages," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 1-20, January.
    16. Sascha Becker & Peter Egger, 2013. "Endogenous product versus process innovation and a firm’s propensity to export," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 329-354, February.
    17. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1995. "International R&D spillovers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 859-887, May.
    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. Rodil, Óscar & Vence, Xavier & Sánchez, María del Carmen, 2016. "The relationship between innovation and export behaviour: The case of Galician firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 248-265.
    20. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1989. "Product Development and International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1261-1283, December.
    21. Frank Butter & Jan Möhlmann & Paul Wit, 2008. "Trade and product innovations as sources for productivity increases: an empirical analysis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 201-211, December.
    22. Panagiotis Ganotakis & James H. Love, 2011. "R&D, product innovation, and exporting: evidence from UK new technology based firms," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 63(2), pages 279-306, April.
    23. Eric A. Verhoogen, 2008. "Trade, Quality Upgrading, and Wage Inequality in the Mexican Manufacturing Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 489-530.
    24. Bee Yan Aw & Mark J. Roberts & Daniel Yi Xu, 2008. "R&D Investments, Exporting, and the Evolution of Firm Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 451-456, May.
    25. Stefan Lachenmaier & Ludger Wößmann, 2006. "Does innovation cause exports? Evidence from exogenous innovation impulses and obstacles using German micro data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 317-350, April.
    26. Peter K. Schott, 2008. "The relative sophistication of Chinese exports [‘Manufacturing Earnings and Compensation in China’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 23(53), pages 6-49.
    27. repec:fth:bosecd:110 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Faustino & Matos, 2015. "Exports, productivity and innovation: new firm level empirical evidence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(46), pages 4918-4933, October.
    29. Elhanan Helpman & Marc Melitz & Yona Rubinstein, 2008. "Estimating Trade Flows: Trading Partners and Trading Volumes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 441-487.
    30. Lucia Foster & John Haltiwanger & Chad Syverson, 2008. "Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 394-425, March.
    31. Wei-Chih Chen, 2013. "The Extensive and Intensive Margins of Exports: The Role of Innovation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 607-635, May.
    32. Eaton, Jonathan & Kortum, Samuel, 2001. "Technology, trade, and growth: A unified framework," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 742-755, May.
    33. Rasiah, Rajah & Shahrivar, Rafat Beigpoor & Yap, Xiao-Shan, 2016. "Institutional support, innovation capabilities and exports: Evidence from the semiconductor industry in Taiwan," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 69-75.
    34. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    35. 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.
    36. Allan Riding & Barbara Orser & Martine Spence & Brad Belanger, 2012. "Financing new venture exporters," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 147-163, February.
    37. Agnihotri, Arpita & Bhattacharya, Saurabh, 2015. "Determinants of export intensity in emerging markets: An upper echelon perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 687-695.
    38. Dutt, Pushan & Mihov, Ilian & Van Zandt, Timothy, 2013. "The effect of WTO on the extensive and the intensive margins of trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 204-219.
    39. Klepper, Steven, 1996. "Entry, Exit, Growth, and Innovation over the Product Life Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 562-583, June.
    40. Jože P. Damijan & Črt Kostevc & Sašo Polanec, 2010. "From Innovation to Exporting or Vice Versa?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 374-398, March.
    41. Jonathan Eaton & Samuel Kortum, 2002. "Technology, Geography, and Trade," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(5), pages 1741-1779, September.
    42. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1991. "Quality Ladders and Product Cycles," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 557-586.
    43. Yi, Jingtao & Wang, Chengqi & Kafouros, Mario, 2013. "The effects of innovative capabilities on exporting: Do institutional forces matter?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 392-406.
    44. David Hummels & Peter J. Klenow, 2005. "The Variety and Quality of a Nation's Exports," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 704-723, June.
    45. Ricardo Hausmann & Jason Hwang & Dani Rodrik, 2007. "What you export matters," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, March.
    46. Maurice Kugler & Eric Verhoogen, 2012. "Prices, Plant Size, and Product Quality," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(1), pages 307-339.
    47. Greco, Marco & Grimaldi, Michele & Cricelli, Livio, 2016. "An analysis of the open innovation effect on firm performance," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 501-516.
    48. repec:lmu:muenar:20646 is not listed on IDEAS
    49. Bruno Cassiman & Elena Golovko, 2011. "Innovation and internationalization through exports," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(1), pages 56-75, January.
    50. Basile, Roberto, 2001. "Export behaviour of Italian manufacturing firms over the nineties: the role of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1185-1201, October.
    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. R Ackrill & R Çetin, 2025. "Imitation or Innovation? The impacts of patents and R&D expenditures on the high-tech exports of Newly Industrialised Countries," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 30(1), pages 45-65, March.
    2. Ionica Oncioiu & Florentina Raluca Bîlcan & Anca Gabriela Petrescu, 2017. "The Potential Role of Innovative Indian SMEs in Sustainable Growth," EuroEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 1(36), pages 196-206, May.

    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. Wu, Lichao & Wei, Yingqi & Wang, Chengang, 2021. "Disentangling the effects of business groups in the innovation-export relationship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    2. Wu, Lichao & Wei, Yingqi & Wang, Chengang & McDonald, Frank & Han, Xia, 2022. "The importance of institutional and financial resources for export performance associated with technological innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. Richard Harris & John Moffat, 2011. "R&D, Innovation and Exporting," SERC Discussion Papers 0073, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Cirera, Xavier & Marin, Anabel & Markwald, Ricardo, 2015. "Explaining export diversification through firm innovation decisions: The case of Brazil," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1962-1973.
    5. Rosario Crinò & Paolo Epifani, 2009. "Productivity, Quality and Export Behavior (Revised version of: Firm-Export Intensity and Productivity, September 2011)," Development Working Papers 271, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    6. Tomasz Brodzicki & Dorota Ciolek, 2016. "Creativity pays off. Innovation, innovation strategy, and internationalization," Working Papers 1601, Instytut Rozwoju, Institute for Development.
    7. Falk, Martin & de Lemos, Francisco Figueira, 2019. "Complementarity of R&D and productivity in SME export behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 157-168.
    8. Stephen Esaku, 2020. "Investments, export entry and export intensity in small manufacturing firms," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 47(4), pages 677-697, December.
    9. Irene Brambilla & Nicolas Depetris Chauvin & Guido Porto, 2017. "Examining the Export Wage Premium in Developing Countries," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 447-475, August.
    10. Wei-Chih Chen, 2013. "The Extensive and Intensive Margins of Exports: The Role of Innovation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 607-635, May.
    11. Enrique López-Bazo & Elisabet Motellón, 2013. "“Firm exports, innovation, … and regions”," AQR Working Papers 201305, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised May 2013.
    12. Rodil, Óscar & Vence, Xavier & Sánchez, María del Carmen, 2016. "The relationship between innovation and export behaviour: The case of Galician firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 248-265.
    13. Dosi, Giovanni & Grazzi, Marco & Moschella, Daniele, 2015. "Technology and costs in international competitiveness: From countries and sectors to firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1795-1814.
    14. Harrigan, James & Ma, Xiangjun & Shlychkov, Victor, 2015. "Export prices of U.S. firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 100-111.
    15. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    16. Dahai Fu & Yanrui Wu & Yihong Tang, 2012. "Does Innovation Matter for Chinese High-Tech Exports? A Firm-Level Analysis," Frontiers of Economics in China-Selected Publications from Chinese Universities, Higher Education Press, vol. 7(2), pages 218-245, June.
    17. Alvaro Garcia-Marin & Nico Voigtländer, 2019. "Exporting and Plant-Level Efficiency Gains: It's in the Measure," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(4), pages 1777-1825.
    18. Flora Bellone & Sarah Guillou & Lionel Nesta, 2009. "Are Export Premia Robust to Innovation Statistics?," Sciences Po Economics Publications (main) hal-00973076, HAL.
    19. Silviano Esteve-Pérez & Diego Rodríguez, 2013. "The dynamics of exports and R&D in SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 219-240, June.
    20. Maurice Kugler & Eric Verhoogen, 2012. "Prices, Plant Size, and Product Quality," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(1), pages 307-339.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:11:p:1173-:d:82836. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.