Product Relatedness and Firm Exports in China

Poncet, Sandra ; Starosta de Waldemar, Felipe

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY;    AGGREGATE EXPORTS;    APPAREL;    ASSEMBLY;    AUTONOMY;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-6676
RP-ID  :  WPS6676

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper proposes the first evaluationusing micro-level data of the gains from the consistency ofactivities with a local comparative advantage. Usingfirm-level data from Chinese customs over the 2000-6 period,the study investigates the relationship between the exportperformance of firms and how their products relate to localcomparative advantage. The key indicator measures thedensity of the links between a product and the local productspace. Hence, it combines information on the intrinsicrelatedness of a good with information on the local patternof specialization. The results indicate that exports growfaster for goods that have denser links with those currentlyproduced in the firm's locality. The density of linksbetween products seems to yield export-enhancing spillovers.However, this positive effect of product relatedness onexport performance is mainly limited to ordinary tradeactivities and domestic firms. It is also stronger for moreproductive firms, suggesting that spillover diffusion may behindered by insufficient absorptive capacity.