Economic performance under NAFTA: a firm-level analysis of the trade-productivity linkages

Rafael De Hoyos and Leonardo Iacovone

No 5661, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Did the North American Free Trade Agreement make Mexican firms more productive? If so, through which channels? This paper addresses these questions by deploying an innovative microeconometric approach that disentangles the various channels through which integration with the global markets (via international trade) can affect firm-level productivity. The results show that the North American Free Trade Agreement stimulated the productivity of Mexican plants via: (1) an increase in import competition and (2) a positive effect on access to imported intermediate inputs. However, the impact of trade reforms was not identical for all integrated firms, with fully integrated firms (i.e. firms simultaneously exporting and importing) benefiting more than other integrated firms. Contrary to previous results, once self-selection problems are solved, the analysis finds a rather weak relationship between exports and productivity growth.

Keywords: Economic Theory&Research; Free Trade; Labor Policies; Knowledge for Development; Microfinance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-05-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff, nep-int and nep-mic
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Journal Article: Economic Performance under NAFTA: A Firm-Level Analysis of the Trade-productivity Linkages (2013)
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