Abstract
In the global recession of 2009, exports declined precipitously in many countries. We illustrate with firm-level data for Belgium and Peru that the decline was very sudden and almost entirely due to lower export sales by existing exporters. After the recession, exports rebounded almost equally quickly and we evaluate whether export promotion programs were an effective tool aiding this recovery. We show that firms taking advantage of this type of support did better during the crisis, controlling flexibly for systematic differences between supported and control firms. The primary mechanism we identify is that supported firms are generally more likely to survive on the export market and, in particular, are more likely to continue exporting to countries hit by the financial crisis. In terms of absolute magnitudes, the mid-point of the range of estimates suggest a 6%to 11%, respectively for Belgium and Peru, higher probability of survival on the export market for supported firms and approximately 20% to 10% higher exports for surviving exporters.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | eiw014 |
| Pages (from-to) | 653-702 |
| Number of pages | 50 |
| Journal | Economic Policy |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 88 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 1 2016 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Cite this
Did export promotion help firms weather the crisis? / Van Biesebroeck, Johannes; Konings, Jozef; Martincus, Christian Volpe.
In: Economic Policy, Vol. 31, No. 88, eiw014, 01.10.2016, p. 653-702.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Did export promotion help firms weather the crisis?
AU - Van Biesebroeck, Johannes
AU - Konings, Jozef
AU - Martincus, Christian Volpe
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - In the global recession of 2009, exports declined precipitously in many countries. We illustrate with firm-level data for Belgium and Peru that the decline was very sudden and almost entirely due to lower export sales by existing exporters. After the recession, exports rebounded almost equally quickly and we evaluate whether export promotion programs were an effective tool aiding this recovery. We show that firms taking advantage of this type of support did better during the crisis, controlling flexibly for systematic differences between supported and control firms. The primary mechanism we identify is that supported firms are generally more likely to survive on the export market and, in particular, are more likely to continue exporting to countries hit by the financial crisis. In terms of absolute magnitudes, the mid-point of the range of estimates suggest a 6%to 11%, respectively for Belgium and Peru, higher probability of survival on the export market for supported firms and approximately 20% to 10% higher exports for surviving exporters.
AB - In the global recession of 2009, exports declined precipitously in many countries. We illustrate with firm-level data for Belgium and Peru that the decline was very sudden and almost entirely due to lower export sales by existing exporters. After the recession, exports rebounded almost equally quickly and we evaluate whether export promotion programs were an effective tool aiding this recovery. We show that firms taking advantage of this type of support did better during the crisis, controlling flexibly for systematic differences between supported and control firms. The primary mechanism we identify is that supported firms are generally more likely to survive on the export market and, in particular, are more likely to continue exporting to countries hit by the financial crisis. In terms of absolute magnitudes, the mid-point of the range of estimates suggest a 6%to 11%, respectively for Belgium and Peru, higher probability of survival on the export market for supported firms and approximately 20% to 10% higher exports for surviving exporters.
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U2 - 10.1093/epolic/eiw014
DO - 10.1093/epolic/eiw014
M3 - Article
VL - 31
SP - 653
EP - 702
JO - Economic Policy
JF - Economic Policy
SN - 0266-4658
IS - 88
M1 - eiw014
ER -