IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_2865.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A Touch of Sophistication: FDI and Unit Values of Exports

Author

Listed:
  • Torfinn Harding
  • Beata Smarzynska Javorcik
  • Beata Smarzynska Javorcik

Abstract

The debate on trade and growth increasingly focuses on the composition of exports. Exports of more “sophisticated” products appear to be positively correlated with growth, and upgrading the quality of exports is high on the policy agenda of many countries. This study presents evidence suggesting that attracting inflows of FDI offers potential for upgrading a country’s export basket. The empirical analysis relates unit values of exports measured at the 4-digit SITC level to data on sectors treated by investment promotion agencies as priority in their efforts to attract FDI. The sample covers 116 countries over the period 1984-2000. The findings are consistent with a positive effect of FDI on unit values of exports in developing countries. However, such a relationship is less evident in developed countries. These results suggest that FDI can help bridge gaps in production and marketing techniques between developing and high income economies.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2865
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp2865.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    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. Iacovone, Leonardo & Javorcik, Beata S., 2008. "Multi-product exporters : diversification and micro-level dynamics," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4723, The World Bank.
    3. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    4. Matthias Arnold, Jens & Javorcik, Beata S., 2009. "Gifted kids or pushy parents? Foreign direct investment and plant productivity in Indonesia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 42-53, September.
    5. Torfinn Harding & Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2007. "Developing economies and international investors. Do investment promotion agencies bring them together?," Discussion Papers 513, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    6. Aaditya Mattoo & Arvind Subramanian, 2009. "Criss-Crossing Globalization: Uphill Flows of Skill-Intensive Goods and Foreign Direct Investment," Working Paper Series WP09-7, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    7. 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.
    8. Ricardo Hausmann & Jason Hwang & Dani Rodrik, 2007. "What you export matters," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, March.
    9. Zhi Wang & Shang-Jin Wei, 2010. "What Accounts for the Rising Sophistication of China's Exports?," NBER Chapters, in: China's Growing Role in World Trade, pages 63-104, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    11. Peter K. Schott, 2004. "Across-Product Versus Within-Product Specialization in International Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(2), pages 647-678.
    12. Hallak, Juan Carlos, 2006. "Product quality and the direction of trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 238-265, January.
    13. Alessandro Nicita & Marcelo Olarreaga, 2007. "Trade, Production, and Protection Database, 1976--2004," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 21(1), pages 165-171.
    14. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    15. Holger Görg & Eric Strobl, 2016. "Multinational Companies And Productivity Spillovers: A Meta-Analysis," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 8, pages 145-161, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    16. John Sutton, 2007. "Quality, Trade and the Moving Window: The Globalisation Process," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(524), pages 469-498, November.
    17. 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.
    18. Juan Carlos Hallak & Peter K. Schott, 2011. "Estimating Cross-Country Differences in Product Quality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(1), pages 417-474.
    19. Beata S. Javorcik, 2008. "Can Survey Evidence Shed Light on Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment?," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 23(2), pages 139-159, June.
    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. Fan, Zhaobin & Anwar, Sajid & Huang, Shujuan, 2018. "Cultural diversity and export sophistication," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 508-522.
    2. Yingzhu Yang & Qunhao Wang & Yang Gao & Lexiang Zhao, 2022. "Does Environmental Regulation Promote the Upgrade of the Export Technology Structure: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-13, August.
    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. Romero, Alberto & Colina, Mary Analí Vera, 2014. "Las empresas transnacionales y los países en desarrollo," Revista Tendencias, Universidad de Narino, vol. 15(2), pages 58-89, July.
    5. Lihua Gu, 2021. "The Impact of Intelligent Manufacturing on Export Sophistication: Evidence from Industrial Robots," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(12), pages 183-183, July.
    6. Su, Xiaoyan & Anwar, Sajid & Zhou, Ying & Tang, Xuan, 2020. "Services trade restrictiveness and manufacturing export sophistication," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Kaitila, Ville, 2010. "Quality-adjusted similarity of EU-countriesŽ export structure," Discussion Papers 1227, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.

    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. Kalina Manova & Zhiwei Zhang, 2012. "Export Prices Across Firms and Destinations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(1), pages 379-436.
    2. Ge, Ying & Lai, Huiwen & Zhu, Susan Chun, 2015. "Multinational price premium," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 181-199.
    3. Andrea Ciani & Michele Imbruno, 2017. "Microeconomic mechanisms behind export spillovers from FDI: evidence from Bulgaria," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 153(4), pages 703-734, November.
    4. Beata S. Javorcik & Alessia Lo Turco & Daniela Maggioni, 2018. "New and Improved: Does FDI Boost Production Complexity in Host Countries?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(614), pages 2507-2537, September.
    5. Poupakis,Stavros, 2020. "Are Inflows of FDI Good for Russian Exporters ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9201, The World Bank.
    6. Curzi, Daniele & Raimondi, Valentina & Olper, Alessandro, 2013. "Quality Upgrading, Competition and Trade Policy: Evidence from the Agri-Food Sector," 2013: Productivity and Its Impacts on Global Trade, June 2-4, 2013. Seville, Spain 152386, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    7. Flach, Lisandra, 2016. "Quality upgrading and price heterogeneity: Evidence from Brazilian exporters," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 282-290.
    8. Stavros Poupakis, 2022. "Does FDI in Upstream and Downstream Sectors Facilitate Quality Upgrading? Evidence from Russian Exporters," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(2), pages 451-471, April.
    9. 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.
    10. Cong S. Pham & Mehmet Ali Ulubaşoğlu, 2016. "The role of endowments, technology and size in international trade: new evidence from product-level data," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(7), pages 913-937, October.
    11. Raphael A. Auer, 2013. "Product Heterogeneity, Cross-Country Taste Differences, and the Consumption Home Bias," Working Papers 13.01, Swiss National Bank, Study Center Gerzensee.
    12. Raphael Auer, 2009. "Product Heterogeneity, Within-Industry Trade Patterns, and the Home Bias of Consumption?," Working Papers 09.05, Swiss National Bank, Study Center Gerzensee.
    13. Van Assche, Ari & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2018. "Functional upgrading in China's export processing sector," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 245-262.
    14. Sarantis Kalyvitis, 2015. "Who exports high-quality products? Some empirical regularities from Greek exporting firms," Working Papers 201, Bank of Greece.
    15. Gideon Ndubuisi & Solomon Owusu, 2022. "Trust, Efficient Contracting and Export Upgrading," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(6), pages 2708-2729, December.
    16. Maurice Kugler & Eric Verhoogen, 2012. "Prices, Plant Size, and Product Quality," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(1), pages 307-339.
    17. Sandra Poncet & Felipe Starosta, 2013. "Export upgrading and growth in China: the prerequisite of domestic embeddedness," PSE - G-MOND WORKING PAPERS halshs-00960684, HAL.
    18. Sandra Poncet & Felipe Starosta de Waldemar, 2015. "Product Relatedness and Firm Exports in China," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(3), pages 579-605.
    19. Angela Cheptea & Lionel Fontagné & Soledad Zignago, 2014. "European export performance," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(1), pages 25-58, February.
    20. Jennie Bai & Jia Guo & Benjamin R. Mandel, 2013. "Going global: markups and product quality in the Chinese art market," Staff Reports 614, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    export quality; unit values; FDI; investment promotion; industrial policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods

    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:ces:ceswps:_2865. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.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.