Exports and Productivity: An Empirical Analysis of German and Austrian Firm-Level Performance

Hansen, Thorsten (April 2010): Exports and Productivity: An Empirical Analysis of German and Austrian Firm-Level Performance. Discussion Papers in Economics 2010-22

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between export activities and firm-level productivity. Unique matching of German and Austrian micro data from 1994 to 2003 suggests that exporters are more productive by around 40 percent compared with non-exporters. Moreover, beside other analysis techniques, instrumental variable estimations suggest that exporting causes a rise in firm-level productivity. That is, the annual average growth rate of an exporting firm's productivity is between about 1 and 1.5 percent higher than that of non-exporters. It allows the conclusion that, against other findings of existing studies, both directions hold: more productive firms self-select themselves into export markets and being active in foreign markets boosts firm-level productivity.

• Item Type: Paper
• Form of publication: Preprint
• Keywords: exports, firm-level productivity
• Faculties: Economics; Economics > Munich Discussion Papers in Economics; Economics > Chairs > Chair of International Economics
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology; 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• JEL Classification: D24, F13, F23, L22, L23, O47
• Language: English

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