IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/cesptp/hal-01044982.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Product relatedness and firm exports in China

Author

Listed:
  • Sandra Poncet

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Felipe Starosta de Waldemar

    (RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11)

Abstract

We propose the first evaluation using micro-level data of the gains from the consistency of activities with a local comparative advantage. Using firm-level data from Chinese customs over the 2000-6 period, we investigate the relationship between the export performance of firms and how their products relate to local comparative advantage. Our key indicator measures the density of the links between a product and the local product space. Hence, it combines information on the intrinsic relatedness of a good with information on the local pattern of specialization. Our results indicate that exports grow faster for goods that have denser links with those currently produced in the firm's locality. The density of links between products seems to yield export-enhancing spillovers. However, we show that this positive effect of product relatedness on export performance is mainly limited to ordinary trade activities and domestic firms. It is also stronger for more productive firms, suggesting that spillover diffusion may be hindered by insufficient absorptive capacity.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandra Poncet & Felipe Starosta de Waldemar, 2014. "Product relatedness and firm exports in China," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01044982, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-01044982
    DOI: 10.1093/wber/lht037
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01044982
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aitken, Brian & Hanson, Gordon H. & Harrison, Ann E., 1997. "Spillovers, foreign investment, and export behavior," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1-2), pages 103-132, August.
    2. Li, Xibao, 2011. "Sources of External Technology, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation Capability in Chinese State-Owned High-Tech Enterprises," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1240-1248, July.
    3. Deborah L. Swenson, 2008. "Multinationals and the creation of Chinese trade linkages," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 596-618, May.
    4. Ricardo Hausmann & Bailey Klinger, 2007. "The Structure of the Product Space and the Evolution of Comparative Advantage," CID Working Papers 146, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    5. Manova, Kalina & Yu, Zhihong, 2016. "How firms export: Processing vs. ordinary trade with financial frictions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 120-137.
    6. Ricardo Hausmann & Bailey Klinger, 2008. "South Africa's export predicament," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(4), pages 609-637, October.
    7. Elsa Leromain & Gianluca Orefice, 2014. "New revealed comparative advantage index: Dataset and empirical distribution," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 139, pages 48-70.
    8. Manuel Agosin & Roberto Machado, 2005. "Foreign Investment in Developing Countries: Does it Crowd in Domestic Investment?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 149-162.
    9. Dai, Mi & Maitra, Madhura & Yu, Miaojie, 2016. "Unexceptional exporter performance in China? The role of processing trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 177-189.
    10. Jarreau, Joachim & Poncet, Sandra, 2012. "Export sophistication and economic growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 281-292.
    11. Ricardo Hausmann & Jason Hwang & Dani Rodrik, 2007. "What you export matters," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, March.
    12. Dani Rodrik, 2006. "What's So Special about China's Exports?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, September.
    13. Lemoine, Francoise & Unal-Kesenci, Deniz, 2004. "Assembly Trade and Technology Transfer: The Case of China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 829-850, May.
    14. Gaulier, Guillaume & Zignago, Soledad, 2004. "Notes on BACI (analytical database of international trade). 1989-2002 version," MPRA Paper 32401, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Greenaway, David & Sousa, Nuno & Wakelin, Katharine, 2004. "Do domestic firms learn to export from multinationals?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 1027-1043, November.
    16. Koenig, Pamina & Mayneris, Florian & Poncet, Sandra, 2010. "Local export spillovers in France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 622-641, May.
    17. Jonathan Eaton & Marcela Eslava & Maurice Kugler & James Tybout, 2008. "Export Dynamics in Colombia: Transactions Level Evidence," BORRADORES DE ECONOMIA 004748, BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA.
    18. Ahn, JaeBin & Khandelwal, Amit K. & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2011. "The role of intermediaries in facilitating trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 73-85, May.
    19. Usui, Norio & A. Abdon, Arnelyn May, 2010. "Structural Transformation in the Kyrgyz Republic: Engineering Future Paths of Capability Accumulation," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 200, Asian Development Bank.
    20. Crespo, Nuno & Fontoura, Maria Paula, 2007. "Determinant Factors of FDI Spillovers - What Do We Really Know?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 410-425, March.
    21. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    22. Frances Ruane & Julie Sutherland, 2005. "Foreign Direct Investment and Export Spillovers: How Do Export Platforms Fare?," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp058, IIIS.
    23. Galina Hale & Cheryl Long, 2011. "Are There Productivity Spillovers From Foreign Direct Investment In China?," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 135-153, May.
    24. Ricardo Hausmann & César Hidalgo, 2011. "The network structure of economic output," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 309-342, December.
    25. Arnaud Costinot & Dave Donaldson & Ivana Komunjer, 2012. "What Goods Do Countries Trade? A Quantitative Exploration of Ricardo's Ideas," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 79(2), pages 581-608.
    26. Jeroen Hinloopen & Charles Marrewijk, 2001. "On the empirical distribution of the Balassa index," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 137(1), pages 1-35, March.
    27. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-338, May.
    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. Flora Bellone & Cilem Selin Hazir & Toshiyuki Matsuura, 2020. "Adjusting to China competition: Evidence from Japanese plant-product-level data," Working Papers hal-03086387, HAL.
    2. Cilem Selin Hazir & Flora Bellone & Cyrielle Gaglio, 2019. "Local product space and firm-level churning in exported products," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 28(6), pages 1473-1496.
    3. Alessia Lo Turco & Daniela Maggioni, 2016. "On firms’ product space evolution: the role of firm and local product relatedness," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(5), pages 975-1006.
    4. Desmarchelier, Benoît & Regis, Paulo José & Salike, Nimesh, 2018. "Product space and the development of nations: A model of product diversification," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 34-51.
    5. Jung, Kyu-Chul, 2016. "The Interaction between China, Japan, and Korea in the Export Market," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 38(2), pages 45-62.
    6. Lemoine, Françoise & Poncet, Sandra & Ünal, Deniz, 2015. "Spatial rebalancing and industrial convergence in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 39-63.
    7. Julien Gourdon & Laura Hering & Stéphanie Monjon & Sandra Poncet, 2019. "Trade policy repercussions: the role of local product space -Evidence from China," Working Papers hal-02065779, HAL.
    8. Partridge, Mark D. & Tsvetkova, Alexandra, 2018. "Local ability to "rewire" and socioeconomic performance: Evidence from US counties before and after the Great Recession," MPRA Paper 89313, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Chen, Zhao & Poncet, Sandra & Xiong, Ruixiang, 2017. "Inter-industry relatedness and industrial-policy efficiency: Evidence from China’s export processing zones," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 809-826.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1f59r6ssre9eiqb2rso9ui50m2 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Julien Gourdon & Laura Hering & Stéphanie Monjon & Sandra Poncet, 2022. "Estimating the Repercussions from China’s Export VAT Rebate Policy," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-03274542, HAL.
    12. Shengjun Zhu & Canfei He & Qian Luo, 2019. "Good neighbors, bad neighbors: local knowledge spillovers, regional institutions and firm performance in China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 617-632, March.
    13. Yu, Ziliang & Tong, Jiadong, 2020. "Financing benefit from exporting: An indirect identification approach," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 57.
    14. Nicola Daniele Coniglio & Raffaele Lagravinese & Davide Vurchio, 2016. "Production sophisticatedness and growth: evidence from Italian provinces before and during the crisis, 1997–2013," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 9(2), pages 423-442.
    15. C'esar A. Hidalgo, 2022. "The Policy Implications of Economic Complexity," Papers 2205.02164, arXiv.org.
    16. Alessia Lo Turco & Daniela Maggioni, 2017. "Local Discoveries and Technological Relatedness: the Role of Foreign Firms," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1710, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2017.
    17. Françoise Lemoine & Grégoire Mayo & Sandra Poncet & Deniz Ünal, 2014. "The Geographic Pattern of China's Growth and Convergence within Industry," Working Papers 2014-04, CEPII research center.
    18. Alexandra Tsvetkova & Tessa Conroy & Jean-Claude Thill, 2020. "Surviving in a high-tech manufacturing industry: the role of innovative environment and proximity to metropolitan industrial portfolio," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 501-527, June.
    19. Cyrielle Gaglio, 2015. "Measuring Country Competitiveness: A Survey of Exporting-based Indexes," GREDEG Working Papers 2015-42, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    20. Ron Boschma, 2017. "Relatedness as driver behind regional diversification: a research agenda," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1702, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jan 2017.

    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. Poncet, Sandra & Starosta de Waldemar, Felipe, 2013. "Export Upgrading and Growth: The Prerequisite of Domestic Embeddedness," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 104-118.
    2. Sandra Poncet & Felipe Starosta, 2013. "Export upgrading and growth in China: the prerequisite of domestic embeddedness," PSE - G-MOND WORKING PAPERS halshs-00960684, HAL.
    3. Florian Mayneris & Sandra Poncet, 2010. "Export Performance of China's Domestic Firms: the Role of Foreign Export Spillovers," Working Papers 2010-32, CEPII research center.
    4. Florian Mayneris & Sandra Poncet, 2015. "Chinese Firms' Entry to Export Markets: The Role of Foreign Export Spillovers," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 29(1), pages 150-179.
    5. Bai, Xue & Hong, Shengjie & Wang, Yaqi, 2021. "Learning from processing trade: Firm evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 579-602.
    6. Nebojsa Stojcic & Edvard Orlic, 2016. "Foreign Direct Investment And Structural Transformation Of Exports," Economic Thought and Practice, Department of Economics and Business, University of Dubrovnik, vol. 25(2), pages 355-378, december.
    7. Xuqian Hu & Canfei He, 2020. "Nontariff measures, trade deflection, and market expansion of exporters in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 932-953, September.
    8. L. An & C. Hu & Yong Tan, 2017. "Regional effects of export tax rebate on exporting firms: Evidence from China," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 774-798, September.
    9. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    10. Pamina Koenig & Florian Mayneris & Sandra Poncet, 2011. "Économies d'agglomération à l'export et difficulté d'accès aux marchés," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-00633773, HAL.
    11. Pamina Koenig & Florian Mayneris & Sandra Poncet, 2010. "Économies d’agglomération à l’exportation et difficulté d’accès aux marchés," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 435(1), pages 85-103.
    12. Hong, Chang & Wu, Haoyu, 2018. "Export spillover and location choice," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 54-68.
    13. Hu, Cui & Tan, Yong, 2016. "Export spillovers and export performance in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 75-89.
    14. Florian MAYNERIS & Sandra PONCET, 2011. "Entry on difficult export markets by Chinese domestic firms: the role of foreign export spillovers," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2011041, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    15. Torfinn Harding & Beata Smarzynska Javorcik & Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2009. "A Touch of Sophistication: FDI and Unit Values of Exports," CESifo Working Paper Series 2865, CESifo.
    16. Gnidchenko, A., 2014. "Improving the Methods for Estimating the Structure and the Basis of Export Potential through Export Diversification," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 83-109.
    17. Brandt, Loren & Li, Bingjing & Morrow, Peter M., 2021. "Processing trade and costs of incomplete liberalization: The case of China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    18. Jarreau, Joachim & Poncet, Sandra, 2012. "Export sophistication and economic growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 281-292.
    19. Gideon Ndubuisi & Solomon Owusu, 2021. "How important is GVC participation to export upgrading?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(10), pages 2887-2908, October.
    20. Qun Bao & Ninghua Ye & Ligang Song, 2016. "Congested Export Spillover in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 272-282, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Chinese firms; Chinese customs; China; Export flux;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

    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:hal:cesptp:hal-01044982. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.