IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nzb/nzbdps/2009-09.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Entrepreneurship and aggregate merchandise trade growth in New Zealand

Author

Abstract

We present a descriptive analysis of firm-level merchandise trade, focussing on the role of entrepreneurial exporting behaviour. We document two aspects of the dynamics of trade – the contribution of novel export activity to aggregate trade growth and, conversely, the substantial exit rates of new trade relationships. The unique contribution of this paper lies in the detailed and comprehensive data we have available on market and product choices. Specifically, we make use of shipment-level goods trade data, linked to information for the universe of economically active New Zealand manufacturers,to examine trade at the firm-level and at the product-country-firm nexus. Our growth decomposition and survival analysis suggest several themes: (a) novel market entry is a significant contributor to aggregate export growth; (b) the study of international entrepreneurial behaviour should encompass not just de novo entrants, but the broad range of trade innovations initiated by incumbent exporters; (c) much expansion in trade appears to be incremental in nature; (d) despite this, such innovations appear to be inherently risky; and (e) experience and scale appear to be key factors in overcoming these risks (or at least proxies for such factors).

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Fabling & Lynda Sanderson, 2009. "Entrepreneurship and aggregate merchandise trade growth in New Zealand," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper Series DP2009/09, Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
    • Handle: RePEc:nzb:nzbdps:2009/09
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/-/media/ReserveBank/Files/Publications/Discussion%20papers/2009/dp09-09.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leonidas C Leonidou & Constatine S Katsikeas, 1996. "The Export Development Process: An Integrative Review of Empirical Models," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(3), pages 517-551, September.
    2. Besedes, Tibor & Prusa, Thomas J., 2006. "Product differentiation and duration of US import trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 339-358, December.
    3. Richard Fabling & Arthur Grimes & Lynda Sanderson, 2012. "Whatever next? Export market choices of New Zealand firms," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(1), pages 137-159, March.
    4. Richard Fabling & Lynda Sanderson, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and aggregate merchandise trade growth in New Zealand," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 182-199, June.
    5. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen, 2004. "Why Some Firms Export," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 561-569, May.
    6. Sofronis K. Clerides & Saul Lach & James R. Tybout, 1998. "Is Learning by Exporting Important? Micro-Dynamic Evidence from Colombia, Mexico, and Morocco," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 903-947.
    7. John M. Abowd & Robert H. Creecy & Francis Kramarz, 2002. "Computing Person and Firm Effects Using Linked Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data," Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Technical Papers 2002-06, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    8. Robert C. Feenstra & James R. Markusen & Andrew K. Rose, 2001. "Using the gravity equation to differentiate among alternative theories of trade," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(2), pages 430-447, May.
    9. Geoff Simmons, 2002. "Growing Pains: New Zealand Qualitative Evidence on Hurdles to Exporting Growth," Treasury Working Paper Series 02/10, New Zealand Treasury.
    10. Vivienne Shaw & Jenny Darroch, 2004. "Barriers to Internationalisation: A Study of Entrepreneurial New Ventures in New Zealand," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 327-343, December.
    11. David Greenaway & Richard Kneller, 2007. "Firm heterogeneity, exporting and foreign direct investment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(517), pages 134-161, February.
    12. Richard Fabling & Arthur Grimes, 2008. "Over the hedge? Exporters' optimal and selective hedging choices," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper Series DP2008/14, Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
    13. Fabling, Richard, 2007. "Just How Innovative are New Zealand Firms? Quantifying & Relating Organisational and Marketing Innovation to Traditional Science & Technology Indicators," Occasional Papers 07/4, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
    14. 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.
    15. Fabling, Richard & Sanderson, Lynda, 2008. "Firm Level Patterns in Merchandise Trade," Occasional Papers 08/3, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
    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. Richard Fabling & Arthur Grimes & Lynda Sanderson, 2012. "Whatever next? Export market choices of New Zealand firms," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(1), pages 137-159, March.
    2. Tolga Cebeci & Ana M. Fernandes, 2015. "Microdynamics of Turkey's Export Boom in the 2000s," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 825-855, May.
    3. Richard Fabling & Lynda Sanderson, 2015. "Export Performance, Invoice Currency and Heterogeneous Exchange Rate Pass-through," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 315-339, February.
    4. Richard Fabling & Lynda Sanderson, 2015. "Exchange rate fluctuations and the margins of exports," Working Papers 15_05, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    5. Richard Fabling & Lynda Sanderson, 2016. "A Rough Guide to New Zealand's Longitudinal Business Database (2nd edition)," Working Papers 16_03, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    6. Richard Fabling & Arthur Grimes, 2015. "Over the Hedge: Do Exporters Practice Selective Hedging?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(4), pages 321-338, April.
    7. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "A survey of empirical studies using transaction level data on exports and imports," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(1), pages 215-225, February.
    8. Shahid Yusuf, 2014. "Middle East Transitions: A Long, Hard Road," IMF Working Papers 2014/135, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Richard Fabling & Lynda Sanderson, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and aggregate merchandise trade growth in New Zealand," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 182-199, June.
    10. Fabling, Richard & Sanderson, Lynda, 2013. "Exporting and firm performance: Market entry, investment and expansion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 422-431.
    11. Lynda Sanderson, 2016. "Barriers to Generating International Income: Evidence from the Business Operations Survey," Treasury Working Paper Series 16/04, New Zealand Treasury.
    12. Jiayue Liu & Ying Hu & Jing Xie & Bo Li, 2022. "Does cultural diversity contribute to the sustainable development of trade? Empirical evidence from 288 Chinese cities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 432-451, March.

    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. Hess, Wolfgang & Persson, Maria, 2009. "Survival and Death in International Trade - Discrete-Time Durations of EU Imports," Working Papers 2009:12, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    2. Wolfgang Hess & Maria Persson, 2011. "Exploring the duration of EU imports," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(4), pages 665-692, November.
    3. Dahai Fu & Yanrui Wu, 2013. "Export Survival Pattern and Determinants of Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 13-18, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    4. Črt Kostevc & Katja Zajc Kejžar, 2020. "Firm‐level export duration: The importance of market‐specific ownership linkages," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 1277-1308, May.
    5. Richard Harris & John Moffat, 2011. "R&D, Innovation and Exporting," SERC Discussion Papers 0073, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Dalgic, Basak & Fazlioglu, Burcu & Gasiorek, Michael, 2015. "Costs of trade and self-selection into exporting and importing: The case of Turkish manufacturing firms," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-28.
    7. 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.
    8. Greenaway, David & Guariglia, Alessandra & Kneller, Richard, 2007. "Financial factors and exporting decisions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 377-395, November.
    9. Roberto Alvarez & Ricardo A. López, 2008. "Entry and Exit in International Markets: Evidence from Chilean Data," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 692-708, September.
    10. Richard Kneller & Mauro Pisu & Zhihong Yu, 2008. "Overseas business costs and firm export performance," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 639-669, May.
    11. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo, 2008. "Survival of New Exporters in Developing Countries: Does it Matter How They Diversify?," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 2494, Inter-American Development Bank.
    12. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen & Stephen J. Redding & Peter K. Schott, 2012. "The Empirics of Firm Heterogeneity and International Trade," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 283-313, July.
    13. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J. R. Elliott & Supreeya Virakul, 2010. "Firm Heterogeneity, Origin of Ownership and Export Participation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 264-291, February.
    14. Gullstrand, Joakim, 2011. "Firm and destination-specific export costs: The case of the Swedish food sector," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 204-213, April.
    15. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Satu Nurmi, 2010. "Dynamics of Export Market Entry and Exit," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(1), pages 101-126, March.
    16. Regis, Paulo José, 2018. "The extensive and intensive margins of exports of firms in developing and emerging countries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 39-49.
    17. Dahai Fu & Yanrui Wu, 2014. "Export survival pattern and its determinants: an empirical study of Chinese manufacturing firms," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 28(1), pages 161-177, May.
    18. Jaewon Jung, 2021. "International Trade and Human Capital Investment with Heterogeneous Firms and Workers: Modeling and Analysis," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-21, May.
    19. Raffaele Brancati & Emanuela Marrocu & Manuel Romagnoli & Stefano Usai, 2018. "Innovation activities and learning processes in the crisis: evidence from Italian export in manufacturing and services," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(1), pages 107-130.
    20. Roberto Alvarez & Ricardo A. López, 2008. "Is Exporting a Source of Productivity Spillovers?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 723-749, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:nzb:nzbdps:2009/09. 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: Reserve Bank of New Zealand Knowledge Centre (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rbngvnz.html .

    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.