Employment Resilience through Services Exports? Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data

Pedro Martins

No 79, Working Papers from Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research

Abstract: Can increased exports of services make a significant contribution to employment resilience during recessions? We study the case of Portugal between 2007 and 2013, a period that includes both a major downturn and a number of structural reforms. Our methodology is based on matched employer-employee panel data and a simple difference-in-differences approach, contrasting service sectors, including those with greater export potential, with other sectors. We find that the employment levels of service sectors exhibit relative increases of approximately 10% in 2012-13. We also find that foreign direct investment explains an important part of this positive employment effect. Overall, our results support the view that services exports can accelerate macroeconomic adjustment, particularly when countries are able to attract foreign capital.

Keywords: Exports of services; unemployment; labour reforms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F16 J21 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-11
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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