Export Superstars
This paper shows that the top 1 percent of exporters critically shape trade patterns, using firm-level data from 32 countries. In particular, variation in average firm size (the intensive margin) explains over two thirds of the variation in the sec...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16816769/export-superstars http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12069 |
| Summary: | This paper shows that the top 1 percent
of exporters critically shape trade patterns, using
firm-level data from 32 countries. In particular, variation
in average firm size (the intensive margin) explains over
two thirds of the variation in the sector distribution of
exports across countries, the remaining share is explained
by variation in the number of firms (the extensive margin).
Variation in average firm size across sectors is largely
driven by variation in the sectoral distribution of exports
from the top 1 percent of firms in a country -- export
superstars. In contrast, the sectoral distribution of
exports from the remaining 99 percent of firms is more
similar across countries, and the distribution of the total
number of firms across sectors is very similar across
countries. This paper also finds that current export
superstars typically entered the export market relatively
large, reached the top 1 percent after less than three years
of exporting, and account for more than half of a
country's total exports, export growth and
diversification. The results underscore the role of
individual firms in determining both trade volumes and trade patterns. |
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