IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/iuiwop/1012.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Sizing Up the Impact of Embassies on Exports

Author

Listed:
  • Ferguson, Shon

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Forslid, Rikard

    (Stockholm University)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to test for the effects of trade promotion via the foreign service. We develop a Melitz-based model where firms are heterogeneous with respect to productivity and must pay a beachhead cost to enter a foreign market, which can be reduced by government spending on trade promotion. The model predicts that unilateral trade promotion allows medium-sized firms to export. We test this prediction using Swedish firm-level data and information on the opening and closing of Swedish embassies abroad using Norwegian firms as control group. Our results lend support to the predictions of the model, with large and medium-sized firms responding most strongly to the opening of embassies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferguson, Shon & Forslid, Rikard, 2014. "Sizing Up the Impact of Embassies on Exports," Working Paper Series 1012, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifn.se/wfiles/wp/wp1012.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holger Görg & Michael Henry & Eric Strobl, 2008. "Grant Support and Exporting Activity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(1), pages 168-174, February.
    2. de Sousa, José, 2012. "The currency union effect on trade is decreasing over time," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 917-920.
    3. Maria Persson, 2013. "Trade facilitation and the extensive margin," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 658-693, August.
    4. Elhanan Helpman & Marc J. Melitz & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2004. "Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 300-316, March.
    5. Breinlich, Holger & Cuñat, Alejandro, 2010. "Trade liberalization and heterogeneous firm models: an evaluation using the Canada - US Free Trade Agreement," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28725, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Daniel Trefler, 2004. "The Long and Short of the Canada-U. S. Free Trade Agreement," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 870-895, September.
    7. Sourafel Girma & Yundan Gong & Holger Görg & Zhihong Yu, 2009. "Can Production Subsidies Explain China's Export Performance? Evidence from Firm‐level Data," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(4), pages 863-891, December.
    8. Andrew K. Rose, 2007. "The Foreign Service and Foreign Trade: Embassies as Export Promotion," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 22-38, January.
    9. Andrew J. Cassey, 2014. "The Location of US States' Overseas Offices," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 310-325, May.
    10. Volker Nitsch, 2007. "State Visits and International Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(12), pages 1797-1816, December.
    11. Christian Volpe Martincus & Jerónimo Carballo & Pablo M. Garcia, 2012. "Public programmes to promote firms’ exports in developing countries: are there heterogeneous effects by size categories?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 471-491, February.
    12. Andrew J. Cassey, 2016. "The Destinations of State Trade Missions," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 62(3), pages 547-571.
    13. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo, 2008. "Is export promotion effective in developing countries? Firm-level evidence on the intensive and the extensive margins of exports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 89-106, September.
    14. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    15. Lederman, Daniel & Olarreaga, Marcelo & Payton, Lucy, 2010. "Export promotion agencies: Do they work?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 257-265, March.
    16. Paula Bustos, 2011. "Trade Liberalization, Exports, and Technology Upgrading: Evidence on the Impact of MERCOSUR on Argentinian Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(1), pages 304-340, February.
    17. Christian Volpe Martincus & Jerónimo Carballo & Pablo M. Garcia, 2012. "Public programmes to promote firms’ exports in developing countries: are there heterogeneous effects by size categories?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 471-491, February.
    18. Christian Volpe Martincus & Jerónimo Carballo, 2010. "Entering new country and product markets: does export promotion help?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(3), pages 437-467, September.
    19. Christian Volpe Martincus & Jerónimo Carballo, 2010. "Entering new country and product markets: does export promotion help?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(3), pages 437-467, September.
    20. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    21. Akerman, Anders & Forslid, Rikard, 2007. "Country Size, Trade, and Productivity: An Analysis of Heterogenous Firms and Differential Beachhead Costs," Research Papers in Economics 2007:14, Stockholm University, Department of Economics.
    22. repec:idb:brikps:publication-detail,7101.html?id=21166 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Forslid, Rikard & Akerman, Anders, 2007. "Country Size, Productivity and Trade Share Convergence: An Analysis of Heterogenous Firms and Country Size Dependent Beachhead," CEPR Discussion Papers 6545, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wei, Shang-Jin & Wei, Ziru, 2014. "Assessing Market Failures in Export Pioneering Activities: A Structural Estimation Approach," CEPR Discussion Papers 10187, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Jozef Konings & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2016. "Did export promotion help firms weather the crisis?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 31(88), pages 653-702.
    3. Andrew J. Cassey, 2016. "The Destinations of State Trade Missions," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 62(3), pages 547-571.
    4. Shang-Jin Wei & Ziru Wei & Jianhuan Xu, 2017. "Sizing up Market Failures in Export Pioneering Activities," NBER Working Papers 23893, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Vargas Da Cruz,Marcio Jose, 2014. "Do export promotion agencies promote new exporters ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7004, The World Bank.
    6. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053.
    7. Lien, Donald & Lo, Melody, 2017. "Economic impacts of cultural institutes," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 12-21.
    8. Aalto, Eero & Gustafsson, Robin, 2020. "Export Promotion Rationales and Impacts – A Review," ETLA Reports 100, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    9. Huberman, Michael & Meissner, Christopher M. & Oosterlinck, Kim, 2017. "Technology and Geography in the Second Industrial Revolution: New Evidence from the Margins of Trade," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 39-89, March.
    10. Ryo Makioka, 2021. "The impact of export promotion with matchmaking on exports and service outsourcing," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1418-1450, November.
    11. Feng, Gen-Fu & Zheng, Mingbo & Wen, Jun & Chang, Chun-Ping & Chen, Yin E., 2019. "The assessment of globalization on innovation in Chinese manufacturing firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 190-202.
    12. Agarwal, Natasha & Chan, Jackie M.L. & Lodefalk, Magnus & Tang, Aili & Tano, Sofia & Wang, Zheng, 2023. "Mitigating information frictions in trade: Evidence from export credit guarantees," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    13. Firat Demir & Hyeonjin Im, 2020. "Effects of cultural institutes on bilateral trade and FDI flows: Cultural diplomacy or economic altruism?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(9), pages 2463-2489, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vargas Da Cruz,Marcio Jose, 2014. "Do export promotion agencies promote new exporters ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7004, The World Bank.
    2. Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Emily Yu & Shenjie Chen, 2015. "The impact of trade promotion services on Canadian exporter performance," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(4), pages 1481-1512, November.
    3. Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Jozef Konings & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2016. "Did export promotion help firms weather the crisis?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 31(88), pages 653-702.
    4. Broocks, Annette & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2017. "The impact of export promotion on export market entry," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 19-33.
    5. Allan Sørensen, 2020. "Export promotion and intra‐industry reallocations," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 303-319, May.
    6. Priit Tinits & Carl F. Fey, 2022. "The Effects of Timing and Order of Government Support Mechanisms for SME Exports," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 285-323, April.
    7. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053.
    8. Ahmed Boutorat & Loe Franssen, 2023. "Economic missions and firm internationalization: evidence from the Netherlands," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 159(3), pages 787-826, August.
    9. Stjepan Srhoj & Vanja Vitezic & Joachim Wagner, 2020. "Export boosting policies and firm behaviour: Review of empirical evidence around the world," Working Paper Series in Economics 395, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    10. Pedro Albarran & Raquel Carrasco & Adelheid Holl, 2013. "Domestic transport infrastructure and firms’ export market participation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 879-898, May.
    11. Srhoj, Stjepan & Walde, Janette, 2020. "Getting ready for EU Single Market: The effect of export-oriented grant schemes on firm performance," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 279-293.
    12. Christian Volpe Martincus, 2010. "Odyssey in International Markets: An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Export Promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 16458, February.
    13. Salvador Gil-Pareja & Rafael Llorca-Vivero & José Martínez-Serrano & Francisco Requena-Silvente, 2015. "Regional export promotion offices and trade margins," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 151(1), pages 145-167, February.
    14. Aksel Erbahar, 2019. "Market knowledge: Evidence from importers," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 1110-1151, April.
    15. Vargas Da Cruz,Marcio Jose, 2014. "Do export promotion agencies promote new exporters ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7004, The World Bank.
    16. Simona Comi & Laura Resmini, 2020. "Are export promotion programs effective in promoting the internalization of SMEs?," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(2), pages 547-581, July.
    17. Cadot, Olivier & Fernandes, Ana M. & Gourdon, Julien & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2015. "Are the benefits of export support durable? Evidence from Tunisia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 310-324.
    18. Girma, Sourafel & Görg, Holger & Stepanok, Ignat, 2020. "Subsidies, spillovers and exports," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    19. Lederman,Daniel & Olarreaga,Marcelo & Zavala,Lucas, 2015. "Export promotion and firm entry into and survival in export markets," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7400, The World Bank.
    20. Arjan Lejour & harold creusen, 2011. "Uncertainty and the export decisions of Dutch firms," CPB Discussion Paper 183, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heterogeneous firms; Trade promotion;

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1012. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Elisabeth Gustafsson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iuiiise.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.