Learning from Exporters: establishment-level productivity spillovers in Colombia

Time: 2 PM

Speaker:

• Nicola Cortinovis, Utrecht University

Abstract

Different strands of literature have highlighted the effects of trade linkages and participation in the international markets on the productivity of firms and countries. While most of the micro-level studies in this field focuses on the impact of international trade on the productivity of internationally active firms, we tackle a related but less explored question, namely whether and how firms only serving domestic markets are affected by horizontal and vertical linkages to exporters. Making use of establishment- level data on a sample of manufacturing firms in Colombia for the period 2001-2011, we assess the effect of exporters in the same industry and in vertically related ones on the growth of total factor productivity (TFP) of establishments that are exclusively domestic-oriented. Using an identification strategy which leverages the entry of China in the WTO, our analysis indicates the existence of productivity-enhancing spillovers from backward linkages to exporters. We further expand our analysis by considering the role of absorptive capacity and free trade zones (FTZs) in Colombia. 

The paper is co-authored with Jacopo Timini (Banco de Espana)

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