Where do firms export, how much, and why?

Arbeitspapier

The empirical finding that exporting firms are more productive on average than non-exporters has provoked a large theoretical literature based on models such as Melitz (2003), where more productive firms are more likely to overcome costs associated with trade. This paper provides a systematic empirical assessment of the Melitz framework using a unique Irish dataset that includes information on destinations and firm characteristics such as productivity. We find a number of interesting deviations from the model's predictions including a high degree of unpredictable idiosyncratic participation in export markets by firms, a relatively weak positive correlation between the extent of export participation and export sales, and a limited role for productivity in explaining firm exporting behavior. We illustrate the effect of firm heterogeneity on gravity regressions of aggregate trade flows and show how past exporting to a particular market has a strong impact on the current probability of exporting there.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: UCD Centre for Economic Research Working Paper Series ; No. WP08/21

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Lawless, Martina ; Whelan, Karl
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): University College Dublin, UCD School of Economics
• (wo): Dublin
• (wann): 2008

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/71322
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ