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Exporting May Not Always Boost Firm Productivity

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Abstract

A large empirical literature suggests the performance characteristics of firms that export are different from firms that do not. Specifically, exporters tend to be larger, more productive and pay higher wages than non-exporters. This paper reports on an econometric analysis of the characteristics of exporters and non-exporters in Swedish manufacturing industry. We use matching and difference-in-differences analysis to investigate a panel data set on a large number of firms and spanning almost 20 years. Some of our results echo those reported elsewhere. However, in contrast to the findings for every other country analysed so far, we find that the performance characteristics of exporters and non-exporters are remarkably similar. In particular, we find no evidence of pre- or post-entry differences in firm level productivity. This is a striking outcome, probably driven by the extremely high openness of the Swedish economy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom

    David Greenaway

  2. Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Joakim Gullstrand

  3. University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

    Richard Kneller

Authors
  1. David Greenaway
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  2. Joakim Gullstrand
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  3. Richard Kneller
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Greenaway.

Additional information

JEL no.

F14

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Cite this article

Greenaway, D., Gullstrand, J. & Kneller, R. Exporting May Not Always Boost Firm Productivity. Rev. World Econ. 141, 561–582 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-005-0045-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-005-0045-5

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