Job creation, job destruction and firms’ international trade involvement

One of the most important predictions made in recent international trade literature based on heterogeneous firms concerns the within-industry job reallocation from firms not involved in international markets to those that are. This paper quantifies the extent of this reallocation using a dataset of Belgian manufacturing firms from 1998 to 2004 providing information on their international trading activities. The results suggest that, at three-digit industry levels, the shifts in employment between firms having different trading status account for 6 to 30 percent of total job reallocation. This effect is stronger for large than for small firms.Heterogeneous firms, Job reallocation, Imports, Exports, FDI

Export destinations and learning-by-exporting : Evidence from Belgium

This paper evaluates the causal effects of exports to different destination countries using a comprehensive dataset on Belgian manufacturing firms from 1998 to 2005. Initial evidence suggests that, before export market entry, exporters to more developed economies have superior productivity levels than non-exporters and firms exporting to less developed countries. Moreover, they seem to experience higher productivity growth rates in the post-entry period, suggesting learning-by-exporting effects. However, applying matching methodology to formally evaluate the causal effects of export market entry on productivity reveals no such impact. Thus, the productivity advantage of firms exporting to developed countries appears to be driven solely by self-selection.Learning-by-exporting, export destinations, productivity

Imports and Exports at the Level of the Firm : Evidence from Belgium

This paper explores a newly-available panel data set merging balance sheet and international trade transaction data for Belgium. Both imports and exports appear to be highly concentrated among few firms and seem to have become more so over time. Focusing on manufacturing, we find that facts previously reported in the literature for exports only actually apply to imports too. We note that the number of trading firms diminishes as the number of export destinations or import origins increases. The same is true if we consider the number of products traded. With regard to productivity differentials, firms that both import and export appear to be the most productive, followed, in descending order, by importers only, exporters only and non-traders. These results point to the presence of fixed costs not only of exporting, but also of importing and to a process of self-selection in both export and import markets. Also, the productivity advantage of exporters reported in the literature may be overstated because imports were not considered.imports, exports, productivity, firms

Imports and exports at the level of the firm: Evidence from Belgium

This paper explores a newly-available panel data set merging balance sheet and international trade transaction data for Belgium. Both imports and exports appear to be highly concentrated among few firms and seem to have become more so over time. Focusing on manufacturing, we find that facts previously reported in the literature for exports only actually apply to imports too. We note that the number of trading firms diminishes as the number of export destinations or import origins increases. The same is true if we consider the number of products traded. With regard to productivity differentials, firms that both import and export appear to be the most productive, followed, in descending order, by importers only, exporters only and non-traders. These results point to the presence of fixed costs; not only of exporting, but also of importing and to a process of self-selection in both export and import markets. Also, the productivity advantage of exporters reported in the literature may be overstated because imports were not considered.exports, imports, productivity, firms

Imports and Exports at the Level of the Firm: Evidence from Belgium

This paper explores a newly-available panel data set merging balance sheet and international trade transaction data for Belgium. Both imports and exports appear to be highly concentrated among few firms and seem to have become more so over time. Focusing on manufacturing, we find that facts previously reported in the literature for exports only actually apply to imports too. We note that the number of trading firms diminishes as the number of export destinations or import origins increases. The same is true if we consider the number of products traded. With regard to productivity differentials, firms that both import and export appear to be the most productive, followed, in descending order, by importers only, exporters only and non-traders. These results point to the presence of fixed costs; not only of exporting, but also of importing and to a process of self-selection in both export and import markets. Also, the productivity advantage of exporters reported in the literature may be overstated because imports were not considered.exports, imports, productivity, firms

Exporting, linkages and productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment.

In this paper we analyse productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment using firm-level panel data for U.K. manufacturing industries from 1992 to 1999. We investigate spillovers through horizontal, backward, and forward linkages; distinguish spillovers from export-oriented vs domestic-market-oriented FDI; and allow for differing effects, depending on domestic firms' export activities. The results suggest that the mechanisms through which spillovers affect domestic firms are very complex and that there are substantial differences in spillover benefits for domestic exporters and non-exporters, and from different types of inward investment.Direktinvestition; Auslandsniederlassung; Business Network; Produktivität; Export; Spillover-Effekt; Verarbeitendes Gewerbe; Großbritannien;

Employment, Job Turnover and the Trade in Producer Services: Firm-level Evidence

We provide the first firm-level evidence of the impact of the trade in producer services (“offshoring”) on the labour market. Using a new dataset which measures trade in services at the firm-level, we find no evidence that importing intermediate services is associated with job losses or greater worker turnover. Using regression and propensity score matching techniques, we show that firms which start importing intermediate services experience faster employment growth than equivalent firms which do not.Offshoring, exporting, services, employment, job turnover

Microeconometric analysis of firm level adjustment to globalisation

The globalisation process of national economies, through trade and foreign direct investment flows, has been one of the most important forces of economic changes in the latest decades. This thesis contributes to the growing literature on firm level adjustment to globalisation. This literature initiated a new paradigm in international trade based on heterogeneous firms. The recent availability of large firm-level data sets and new theoretical models allow to examine how heterogeneous firms react to internationalisation processes, and how their responses determine changes at more aggregate levels. In each chapter of this dissertation we deal with one different aspect of firm-level adjustment to globalisation processes using a data set of manufacturing firms based in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is a good example of a globalised economy given that it is second largest host of multinational enterprises and relatively open to international trade. Overall, our results support the view that heterogeneous firm-level adjustments are important to our understanding of the impact of internationalisation processes on national economies. We argue and find evidence (in chapter two) that import competition does not necessarily lead to higher elasticity of the demand for labour at firm and industry-level, as it has been claimed before. Furthermore, we show (in chapter three) that foreign affiliates contribute disproportionately to the export performance of United Kingdom manufacturing sectors. The export decisions of multinational enterprises seem to depend on motives different from those of domestic firms. Finally, we present evidence (in chapter four) of the relationship between firm-level productivity and participation to globalisation processes, through trade or foreign direct investment, comparing not means, but productivity distribution functions, which allows to account for the heterogeneity of productivity level across firms. In general, these findings underline the importance of building from micro economic evidence to gauge the likely impact of globalisation processes on national economies

Selfies as Duplex Non-verbal Communication: Human—Media Interaction, Human—Human Interaction, Case Study, and Research Manifesto

Using conceptual tools from semiotics, proxemics, and sensorimotor neuroscience, we propose a duplex model for understanding selfies as non-verbal communication involving an interplay between two layers of interaction: human—media (semiotically primary) and human—human (secondary). We suggest that this approach has promise as a tool for understanding this newborn form of human social behavior and its social, psychological, and neural underpinnings. To support our claim, we do several things. We offer a definition of selfies and outline our model. We review the existing literature on selfies as non-verbal communication to show that there is evidence bearing on our theoretical framework. We present a case study documenting how a combination of image analysis and kinematic measurement can be used to compare taker—smartphone interactions during selfie-taking with image features that play a role in the virtual interaction between the selfie-taker and his or her viewers. Our results support the feasibility of our approach and reveal a sex-related effect on the composition of selfies matching a related difference in the kinematic markers that describe the taker—smartphone interaction. Finally, we discuss outstanding questions in understanding selfies as duplex non-verbal communication and conclude by inviting further research on this topic