Exports, agglomeration and workforce diversity: An empirical assessment for German establishments

Stephan Brunow and Luise Grünwald

VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy from Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association

Abstract: Theoretical and empirical contributions on export behavior highlight the importance of firms' productivity and their levels of economies of scale on firms' export success in `foreign markets. In the context of agglomeration economies, firms enjoy produc-tivity gains when they are located close to competitors or upstreaming industries and they benefit from knowledge spillovers and other positive externalities. In such a stimulating environment, firms become more prone to be exporters. Beyond the role played by externalities, firms may benefit when they employ a diverse workforce and when the interaction of distinct knowledge and related problem-solving abilities increases productivity and secures export success. In this paper, we ask whether German firms (i.e., establishments) benefit from localization and urbanization exter-nalities and face higher export proportions. We also control for a variety of estab-lishment characteristics and workforce diversity. For this purpose, a comprehensive German data set that combines survey data and administrative data is used. While controlling for firm heterogeneity in a fractional response model, we provide evi-dence that manufacturing establishments and smaller establishments (up to 250 employees) benefit most from externalities and especially from knowledge spillover. There is weak evidence supporting the benefit of workforce diversity; however, that factor could explain between-establishment variation.

JEL-codes: D22 F14 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-eur, nep-geo, nep-int, nep-sbm and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Exports, agglomeration and workforce diversity: an empirical assessment for German establishments (2015)
Working Paper: Exports, agglomeration and workforce diversity: An empirical assessment of German establishments (2014)
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