Importing, Productivity and Absorptive Capacity in Sub-Saharan African Manufacturing Firms
By: Foster-McGregor, Neil.
Contributor(s): Isaksson, Anders | Kaulich, Florian.
Material type:
BookSeries: wiiw Working Papers: 105Publisher: Wien : Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche (wiiw), 2013Description: 28 S., 8 Tables and 5 Figures, 30cm.Subject(s): importing | productivity | sub-Saharan Africa | absorptive capacity | human capitalCountries covered: Sub-Saharan Africawiiw Research Areas: International Trade, Competitiveness and FDIClassification: D24 | F10 | M20 | L10 Online resources: Click here to access online Summary: Our study extends the recent literature on the importer-productivity relationship to a firm-level dataset for sub-Saharan Africa. Using a cross-section sample of 3090 firms in 19 countries, we find that importers are more productive than non-importers. The observed importer premium is found to be robust to firm-specific characteristics and to a number of alternative estimation methods. Furthermore, we examine the importance of absorptive capacity in enhancing the benefits from importing. Using recently developed quantile threshold regression methods, we find that higher levels of absorptive capacity, as measured by human capital, are associated with a stronger relationship between importing and productivity.
| Cover image | Item type | Current library | Home library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Materials specified | Vol info | URL | Copy number | Status | Notes | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | Item hold queue priority | Course reserves | |
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| Paper | WIIW Library | 5.700/105 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 1000010003091 |
Our study extends the recent literature on the importer-productivity relationship to a firm-level dataset for sub-Saharan Africa. Using a cross-section sample of 3090 firms in 19 countries, we find that importers are more productive than non-importers. The observed importer premium is found to be robust to firm-specific characteristics and to a number of alternative estimation methods. Furthermore, we examine the importance of absorptive capacity in enhancing the benefits from importing. Using recently developed quantile threshold regression methods, we find that higher levels of absorptive capacity, as measured by human capital, are associated with a stronger relationship between importing and productivity.
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