Reconsidering learning by exporting

Self-selection and learning-by-exporting are the main explanations for the higher productivity of exporting firms. But, whereas evidence on self-selection is largely undisputed, results on learning-by-exporting are mixed and far from conclusive. However, recent research (De Loecker, 2010) has shown that the conclusions from previous learning-by-exporting studies may have been driven by strong assumptions about the evolution of productivity and the role of export status. Relaxing these assumptions turns out to be critical to find evidence of learning-byexporting in a representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms. Our results indicate that the yearly average gains in productivity are around 3% for at least four years.