|
on International Activities of Firms |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | The use of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, or smart devices will go hand in hand with higher productivity, higher product quality, and lower trade costs. Therefore, it can be expected to be positively related to export activities. This paper uses firm level data for manufacturing enterprises from the 27 member countries of the European Union collected in 2025 to shed further light on this issue by investigating the link between the use of advanced technologies and extensive margins of exports. Applying a new machine-learning estimator, Kernel-Regularized Least Squares (KRLS), which does not impose any restrictive assumptions for the functional form of the relation between margins of exports, use of advanced technologies, and any control variables, we find that firms which use more advanced technologies do more often export and do export to more different destinations. |
| Keywords: | advanced technologies, exports, firm level data, Flash Eurobarometer 559, kernel-regularized least squares (KRLS) |
| JEL: | D22 F14 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18496 |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | This short note looks at the link between churning of exporters and dynamics of exports using data from the World Bank Exporter Dynamics Database from 69 countries primarily for the period between 2003 and 2010. In line with Schumpetarian theory of creative destruction we report that a higher rate of turnover in export activity by entry and exit of firms in the year before is positively linked to export growth in the current year after controlling for unobserved time-invariant country effects and country-invariant time effects. Creative destruction is at work in exports. |
| Keywords: | Exporter Dynamics Database, creative destruction, export entry, export exit |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18497 |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | In a paper published in the Journal of Information Economics in 2024 I reported evidence that firms which use cloud computing do more often export, do more often export to various destinations all over the world, and do export to more different destinations. Results are based on data for manufacturing firms from the 27 member countries of the European Union taken from the Flash Eurobarometer 486 survey conducted in 2020. This note uses strictly comparable data from the Flash Eurobarometer 559 conducted in 2025 and the identical empirical strategy to document that the big picture found for 2020 did not change over the last five years. Extensive margins of exports and the use of cloud computing are still positively related. |
| Keywords: | cloud computing, exports, firm level data, Flash Eurobarometer 559, kernel-regularized least squares (KRLS) |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18498 |
| By: | Jamel Saadaoui; Vanessa Strauss-Kahn; Jerome Creel |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how geopolitical relationships shape Chinese exports, asking whether exporters systematically favor politically aligned countries - and whether that preference holds during periods of geopolitical turbulence. We leverage a unique high-frequency panel of over 17 million monthly firm-product-destination transactions from Chinese Customs (2000-2006), matched with the Political Relationship Index (𠑃𠑅ð ¼) developed by Tsinghua University, which captures monthly bilateral diplomatic relations from a Chinese perspective. Unlike most studies on geopolitics and trade, we move beyond the typical Western-centric lens of geopolitical risk and focus on export-side behavior. Our empirical strategy is robust: it combines rich fixed effects (firm-product, destination, time), sectorial tariff controls, and interactions with indicators of extreme positive and negative diplomatic events. Our results consistently show that stronger political alignment increases Chinese firms’ exports in both value and quantity. We also find evidence of non-linearity and asymmetric responses: exporters react more strongly to diplomatic improvements than to deteriorations. Using extreme geopolitical events, we show that positive events amplify the export response to political alignment, while negative events tend to dampen it. The patterns are strongest for foreign-invested firms and for differentiated products, suggesting that geopolitical alignment plays a critical role in global value chain dynamics. These findings contribute to understanding how firms incorporate political signals into trade decisions. In a world of growing political fragmentation, "friendtrading" is not just a policy discourse - it is reflected in the strategic behavior of exporters, even in the absence of formal sanctions. |
| Keywords: | international trade, firms' export, geopolitics, countries alignment |
| JEL: | F14 F13 F51 F23 D74 L25 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2026-22 |
| By: | Vanessa Alviarez; Cheng Chen; Nitya Pandalai-Nayar; Liliana Varela; Kei-Mu Yi; Hongyong Zhang |
| Abstract: | We study how multinational corporations (MNCs) shape firm-level and aggregate structural transformation. Using confidential microdata from Japan and exploiting a quasi-exogenous reform that expanded foreign investment opportunities in China, we assess empirically how this reform affected employment at firms in both the host country (China) and the home country (Japan). In liberalized industries, Japanese manufacturing affiliates in China expanded employment, while parent firms in Japan shifted out of manufacturing and into higher-value service activities, including R&D. To assess the broader relevance of this mechanism, we use microdata from several advanced and middle-income economies, and show that MNCs account for the majority of the middle-income countries' reallocation to manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | multinational firms; manufacturing employment; services employment; foreign direct investment liberalization |
| JEL: | F23 F60 |
| Date: | 2026–03–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddwp:102970 |