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Exports and Productivity in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Joachim Wagner

    (Institute of Economics, University of Lüneburg)

Abstract
Using unique recently released nationally representative high-quality longitudinal data at the plant level, this paper presents the first comprehensive evidence on the relationship between exports and productivity for Germany, a leading actor on the world market for manufactured goods. It applies and extends the now standard approach from the international literature to document that the positive productivity differential of exporters compared to non-exporters is statistically significant, and substantial, even when observed firm characteristics and unobserved firm specific effects are controlled for. For West German plants (but not for East German plants) some empirical evidence for self-selection of more productive firms into export markets is found. There is no evidence for the hypothesis that plants which start to export perform better in the three years after the start than their counterparts which do not start to sell their products on the world market. Results for West Germany support the hypothesis that the productivity differential between exporters and non-exporters is at least in part the result of a market driven selection process in which those export starters that have low productivity at starting time fail as a successful exporter in the years after the start, and only those that were more productive at starting time continue to export.

Suggested Citation

  • Joachim Wagner, 2007. "Exports and Productivity in Germany," Working Paper Series in Economics 41, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:lue:wpaper:41
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Wagner, Joachim, 2002. "The causal effects of exports on firm size and labor productivity: first evidence from a matching approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 287-292, October.
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    4. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm Level Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 1, pages 3-41, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
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    8. Bernard, Andrew B. & Bradford Jensen, J., 1999. "Exceptional exporter performance: cause, effect, or both?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-25, February.
    9. Joachim Wagner, 2006. "Exports, foreign direct investment, and productivity: evidence from German firm level data," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(6), pages 347-349.
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    13. Andrew Bernard & Joachim Wagner, 2001. "Export entry and exit by German firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 137(1), pages 105-123, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joachim Wagner, 2008. "Produktdifferenzierung in deutschen Industrieunternehmen 1995 – 2004: Ausmaß und Bestimmungsgründe," Working Paper Series in Economics 99, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    2. Helmut Fryges & Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Profitability — First Evidence for German Manufacturing Firms," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 7, pages 245-277, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Bellone, Flora & Kiyota, Kozo & Matsuura, Toshiyuki & Musso, Patrick & Nesta, Lionel, 2014. "International productivity gaps and the export status of firms: Evidence from France and Japan," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 56-74.
    4. Markus Kelle, 2013. "Crossing Industry Borders: German Manufacturers as Services Exporters," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(12), pages 1494-1515, December.
    5. Andreas Lichter & Andreas Peichl & Sebastian Siegloch, 2017. "Exporting and labour demand: Micro-level evidence from Germany," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1161-1189, November.
    6. Wagner, Joachim, 2007. "Productivity and Size of the Export Market: Evidence for West and East German Plants, 2004," IZA Discussion Papers 2661, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Boneberg Franziska, 2011. "The Economic Consequences of One-third Co-determination in German Supervisory Boards: First Evidence for the Service Sector from a New Source of Enterprise Data," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 231(3), pages 440-457, June.
    8. Markus Groth, 2008. "Kosteneffizienter und effektiver Biodiversitätsschutz durch Ausschreibungen und eine ergebnisorientierte Honorierung: Das Modelprojekt „Blühendes Steinburg“," Working Paper Series in Economics 105, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    9. De Rosa Donato & Gooroochurn Nishaal & Görg Holger, 2015. "Corruption and Productivity: Firm-level Evidence," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(2), pages 115-138, April.
    10. Joachim Wagner, 2011. "One-third Codetermination at Company Supervisory Boards and Firm Performance in German Manufacturing Industries: First Direct Evidence from a New Type of Enterprise Data," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 131(1), pages 91-106.
    11. Alexander Vogel & Stefan Dittrich, 2008. "The German turnover tax statistics panel," Working Paper Series in Economics 92, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    12. Maggioni Daniela, 2012. "Learning by Exporting in Turkey: An Investigation for Existence and Channels," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, June.
    13. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "International Trade and Firm Performance: A Survey of Empirical Studies since 2006," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 2, pages 43-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Joachim Wagner, 2011. "Offshoring and firm performance: self-selection, effects on performance, or both?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(2), pages 217-247, June.
    15. Joachim Wagner, 2022. "Firm Survival and Gender of Firm Owner in Times of COVID-19: Evidence from 10 European Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-8, April.
    16. Youssouf KIENDREBEOGO, 2012. "Export Activity and Productivity: New Evidence from the Egyptian Manufacturing Industry," Working Papers 201220, CERDI.
    17. Franziska Boneberg, 2010. "The Economic Consequences of one-third Codetermination in German Supervisory Boards: First Evidence for the Service Sector from a New Source of Enterprise Data," Working Paper Series in Economics 177, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    18. Richter, Philipp M. & Schiersch, Alexander, 2017. "CO2 emission intensity and exporting: Evidence from firm-level data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 373-391.
    19. Adriana Peluffo & Dayna Zaclicever, 2013. "Imported Intermediates and Productivity: Does Absorptive Capacity Matter? A Firm-Level Analysis for Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 0613, Department of Economics - dECON.
    20. Markus Kelle, 2012. "Crossing Industry Borders: German Manufacturers as Services Exporters," wiiw Working Papers 92, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    21. Osadume Richard & Blessing Uzoma, C., 2020. "Maritime Trade and Economic Development: A Granger Causality and Bound Test Approach," LOGI – Scientific Journal on Transport and Logistics, Sciendo, vol. 11(2), pages 23-32, November.
    22. Emir Malikov & Shunan Zhao & Subal C. Kumbhakar, 2020. "Estimation of firm‐level productivity in the presence of exports: Evidence from China's manufacturing," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(4), pages 457-480, June.
    23. Markus Groth, 2008. "Private ex-ante transaction costs for repeated biodiversity conservation auctions: a case study," Working Paper Series in Economics 84, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    24. Markus Kelle, 2012. "Crossing Industrial Borders: German Manufacturers as Services Exporters," Development Working Papers 329, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 27 Mar 2012.
    25. Heike Wetzel, 2008. "European Railway Deregulation: The Influence of Regulatory and Environmental Conditions on Efficiency," Working Paper Series in Economics 86, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Exports; productivity; micro data; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory

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