Does Importing more Inputs Raise Exports? Firm Level Evidence from France

Maria Bas and Vanessa Strauss-Kahn

Working Papers from CEPII research center

Abstract: Why would an increase in imported inputs rise exports? We argue that importing more varieties of intermediate inputs increases firm’s productivity and thereby makes the firm able to overcome the export fixed costs. Whereas the literature evidences the positive effect of an increase in imported inputs on firms’ productivity and shows that only the most productive firms export, the link between imported intermediate inputs and export scope has not been made. This paper bridges the gap by studying the impact of imported inputs on the margins of exports. We use a firms’ level database of imports at the product (HS6) level provided by French Customs for the 1995-2005 period. Access to new varieties of inputs may increase productivity, and thereby exports, through better complementarity of inputs and transfer of technology. We test for these different mechanisms by distinguishing the origin of imports (developing vs. developed countries). We find a significant impact of higher diversification and increased number of imported inputs varieties on firm’s TFP and export scope. Both the complementarity and transfer of technology mechanisms seem to matter.

Keywords: Firm heterogeneity; Imported inputs; TFP; Export scope; Varieties; Firm-level data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F10 F12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-eff, nep-eur and nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (40)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm-level evidence from France (2014)
Working Paper: Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm-level evidence from France (2014)
Working Paper: Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm level evidence from France (2010)
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