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Exporters' characteristics and the margins of trade

Author

Listed:
  • Asier Minondo

    (Deusto Business School)

  • Francisco Requena-Silvente

    (Universidad de Valencia)

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of exporting countries' characteristics on the number of exporters (extensive margin) and average exports value per firm (intensive margin). For that purpose, we use a new database compiled by the OECD and Eurostat in year 2005, which allows the calculation of trade margins in bilateral relationships involving a large number of exporting and importing countries. We find that there is almost a one to one relationship between exporters' GDP and the number of firms that participate in export markets. This proportionality remains when we decompose GDP into an employment component and a labor productivity component. Our results also show that exporters' labor productivity is positively linked with the intensive margin of exports. These findings are in line with trade models with product differentiation and heterogeneity in firm productivities, where the fixedcost of entering foreign markets is not uniform across firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Asier Minondo & Francisco Requena-Silvente, 2011. "Exporters' characteristics and the margins of trade," Working Papers 1117, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    • Handle: RePEc:eec:wpaper:1117
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry & Ries, John, 2010. "The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 1-14, May.
    7. Sollis, Robert, 2009. "A simple unit root test against asymmetric STAR nonlinearity with an application to real exchange rates in Nordic countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 118-125, January.
    8. Martina Lawless, 2010. "Deconstructing gravity: trade costs and extensive and intensive margins," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1149-1172, November.
    9. Asier Minondo & Francisco Requena, 2012. "Exporters' characteristics and the margins of trade," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 10-15.
    10. Costas Arkolakis, 2010. "Market Penetration Costs and the New Consumers Margin in International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(6), pages 1151-1199.
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    Cited by:

    1. Asier Minondo & Francisco Requena, 2012. "Exporters' characteristics and the margins of trade," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 10-15.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    trade margins; gravity equation; trade costs; exporting firms; OECD;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

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