Learning-by-Exporting Effects: Are They for Real?

We investigate whether exposure to export markets improves plant productivity. Our estimation framework adds export experience as an additional state variable and a fixed cost of entry into export markets to Olley and Pakes’s (1996) behavioral model. We find robust evidence of a positive effect of export experience on productivity, controlling for the bias caused by self-selection of the most productive plants into exporting. The effect is stronger for plants with the most exposure to exporting, and statistically insignificant for exporters that stop exporting. Our analysis also suggests that matching methods may produce upwardly biased estimates of learning-by-exporting effects.

Learning-by-doing, learning-by-exporting, and productivity : evidence from Colombia

The empirical evidence on whether participation in export markets increases plant-level productivity has been inconclusive so far. The authors explain this inconclusiveness by drawing on Arrow's (1962) characterization of learning-by-doing, which suggests focusing on young plants and using measures of export experience rather than export participation. They find strong evidence of learning-by-exporting for young Colombian manufacturing plants between 1981 and 1991: total factor productivity increases 4-5 percent for each additional year a plant has exported, after controlling for the effect of current exports on total factor productivity. Learning-by-exporting is more important for young than for old plants and in industries that deliver a larger percentage of their exports to high-income countries.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Educational Sciences,Scientific Research&Science Parks

The Basics of International Trade: A Classroom Experiment

We introduce a simple web-based classroom experiment in which students learn the Ricardian model of international trade. Students are assigned to countries and then make individual production, trade and consumption decisions. The analysis of experimental data introduces students to the concepts of absolute and comparative advantage, relative prices, production possibility frontier, specialization, gains from trade, utility maximization and general equilibrium. Students learn about the relationship between individual decision-making and aggregate economic activity. The associated software, Ricardian Explorer, is easy to setup and requires minimal preparation time for instructors. The game is developed as a tool to complement courses in international trade, but it can be used in introductory and intermediate microeconomics courses as well. The analysis of teaching effectiveness has demonstrated that integration of this experiment in the curriculum enhances student learning.Absolute advantage, comparative advantage, specialization, production possibility frontier, gains from trade, utility maximization, general equilibrium, classroom experiments

Learning-by-Doing, Learning-by-Exporting, and Productivity: Evidence from Colombia

The empirical evidence on whether participation in export markets increases plant-level productivity has been inconclusive so far. We explain this inconclusiveness by drawing on Arrow's (1962) characterization of learning-by-doing, which suggests focusing on young plants and using measures of export experience rather than export participation. We find strong evidence of learning-by-exporting for young Colombian manufacturing plants between 1981 and 1991: total factor productivity increases 4%-5% for each additional year a plant has exported, after controlling for the effect of current exports on total factor productivity. Learning-by-exporting is more important for young than for old plants and in industries that deliver a larger percentage of their exports to high-income countries.learning, trade, total factor productivity, exports, export-led growth

INVERSIÓN Y EFICIENCIA TÉCNICA EN LA INDUSTRIA MANUFACTURERA COLOMBIANA

Los principales contendientes en el debate teórico sobre las causas del crecimiento económico son el modelo neoclásico de crecimiento y los nuevos modelos de crecimiento endógeno. La principal discrepancia es sobre el rol de la tecnología: Mientras que el modelo neoclásico caracteriza la tecnología como un bien público disponible para todas las empresas, los nuevos modelos de crecimiento endógeno enfatizan que las innovaciones tecnológicas no se difunden instantáneamente, y que su adopción involucra recursos como capital humano y nuevos equipos.

Learning-by-Exporting Effects: Are They for Real?

We investigate whether exposure to export markets improves plant productivity. Our estimation framework adds export experience as an additional state variable and a fixed cost of entry into export markets to Olley and Pakes’s (1996) behavioral model. We find robust evidence of a positive effect of export experience on productivity, controlling for the bias caused by self-selection of the most productive plants into exporting. The effect is stronger for plants with the most exposure to exporting, and statistically insignificant for exporters that stop exporting. Our analysis also suggests that matching methods may produce upwardly biased estimates of learning-by-exporting effects

Learning-by-Exporting Effects: Are They for Real?

We investigate whether exposure to export markets improves plant productivity. Our estimation framework adds export experience as an additional state variable and a fixed cost of entry into export markets to Olley and Pakes’s (1996) behavioral model. We find robust evidence of a positive effect of export experience on productivity, controlling for the bias caused by self-selection of the most productive plants into exporting. The effect is stronger for plants with the most exposure to exporting, and statistically insignificant for exporters that stop exporting. Our analysis also suggests that matching methods may produce upwardly biased estimates of learning-by-exporting effects

Exports and Productivity: Comparable Evidence for 14 Countries

We use comparable micro level panel data for 14 countries and a set of identically specified empirical models to investigate the relationship between exports and productivity. Our overall results are in line with the big picture that is by now familiar from the literature: Exporters are more productive than non-exporters when observed and unobserved heterogeneity are controlled for, and these exporter productivity premia tend to increase with the share of exports in total sales; there is strong evidence in favour of self-selection of more productive firms into export markets, but nearly no evidence in favour of the learning-by-exporting hypothesis. We document that the exporter premia differ considerably across countries in identically specified empirical models. In a meta-analysis of our results we find that countries that are more open and have more effective government report higher productivity premia. However, the level of development per se does not appear to be an explanation for the observed cross-country differences.exports; productivity; micro data; international comparison

Ingreso no agrícola y empleo rural en Honduras

En este documento se estudian las características y determinantes del ingreso no agrícola y el empleo rural en Honduras, con base en la Encuesta de Hogares de setiembre de 1998. Se encuentra que las actividades no agrícolas son importantes para los habitantes de las áreas rurales de Honduras, significando un 31.3% de su ingreso. Mientras que los salarios no agrícolas están asociados en forma positiva con el número de años de escolaridad y la tasa de urbanización por departamento, las ganancias por trabajo no agrícola independiente dependen fuertemente del acceso a los servicios de electricidad y demás infraestructura. Asimismo, algunas actividades no agrícolas son consideradas como el ¿último recurso¿ de trabajo, porque ofrecen ganancias muy bajas, pero, al menos, ayudan a aliviar la pobreza en los hogares de más bajos ingresos. El análisis de regresión indica que la selección ocupacional en forma individual está asociada a la selección hecha por otros miembros del hogar y del entorno rural, lo que sugiere la presencia tanto de factores locales no observables como la importancia de redes de contactos o puntos de referencia. Por último, las ganancias de trabajo están asociadas en forma positiva con el promedio de años de escolaridad de los adultos en el hogar, indicando así la importancia de los contactos familiares y las habilidades en la búsqueda de trabajo