Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/126332 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2015/057
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
The increasing quantity of literature investigating the impact of trade openness on firm efficiency has not yet provided a definite prediction of the direction of causality. This paper investigates how the relationship between exporting and productivity impacts on manufacturing sectors in Senegal. Using unique firm-level panel data for the period 1998 - 2011, we estimate productivity and exporting dynamics, controlling for other unobserved effects, and using General Method of Moments. Our results indicate evidence both that the most efficient firms self-select for entry into the export market and that learning has an impact on the export market. From a policy perspective, this evidence of learning by exporting suggests Senegal has much to gain from encouraging exports by helping domestic firms overcome barriers to entering foreign markets, particularly by investing in skilled workers and promoting access to patents and licenses.
Subjects: 
exporting
total factor productivity
learning by exporting
general method of moments
JEL: 
C33
D24
F14
L25
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9230-946-6
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
640.33 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.