Do African Manufacturing Firms Learn from Exporting?
We use firm-level panel data for the manufacturing sector in four African countries to investigate whether exporting impacts on efficiency, and whether efficient firms self-select into the export market. Based on simultaneous estimation of a production function and an export regression, our preferred results indicate significant efficiency gains from exporting, which can be interpreted as learning by exporting. We show that modelling unobserved heterogeneity by a flexible approach is important for deriving this conclusion. A policy implication of our results is that Africa would gain from orientating its manufacturing sector towards exporting.
Year of publication: |
2004
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Authors: | Bigsten, Arne ; Collier, Paul ; Dercon, Stefan ; Fafchamps, Marcel ; Gauthier, Bernard ; Gunning, Jan Willem ; Oduro, Abena ; Oostendorp, Remco ; Pattillo, Catherine ; Soderbom, Måns ; Teal, Francis ; Zeufack, Albert |
Published in: |
Journal of Development Studies. - Taylor & Francis Journals, ISSN 0022-0388. - Vol. 40.2004, 3, p. 115-141
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Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis Journals |
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