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Managers' mobility, trade performance, and wages

Author

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  • Mion, Giordano
  • Opromolla, Luca David

Abstract

Knowledge is key to the success of a firm. Firms and their managers acquire knowledge via channels which are often difficult to track down and quantify. By matching employer-employee data with trade data at the firm level we show that the export experience acquired by managers in previous firms leads their current firm towards higher export performance, and commands a sizeable wage premium for the manager. Export knowledge is decisive when it is market-specific: managers with experience related to markets served by their current firm receive an even higher wage premium; firms are more likely to enter markets where their managers have experience; exporters are more likely to stay in those markets, and their sales are on average higher. Our findings are robust to controlling for endogeneity. The impact of managers' export experience on a firm's export performance is at least as strong as that of firm productivity. JEL Classification: M2, L2, F16, J31, J62

Suggested Citation

  • Mion, Giordano & Opromolla, Luca David, 2013. "Managers' mobility, trade performance, and wages," Working Paper Series 1596, European Central Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20131596
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    export experience; firm trade performance; job mobility; managers; wage premium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M2 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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