Exporting from a Small Landlocked Economy : An Assessment of Firm-Product-Destination Survival Rates in the Lao PDR
This paper analyzes previously unreleased firm-level customs transaction data from the Lao PDR in order to assess the determinants of cohort survival among exporters. The authors find that export flows in value terms are dominated by the intensive...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110622081412 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3460 |
| Summary: | This paper analyzes previously
unreleased firm-level customs transaction data from the Lao
PDR in order to assess the determinants of cohort survival
among exporters. The authors find that export flows in value
terms are dominated by the intensive margin, with large
firms continuing to supply the same products to the same
markets. On the extensive margin, new export spells for
firms, products and firm-product-destination units are very
small and short-lived, suggesting that although there is
significant experimentation and discovery by firms, there is
only limited capacity to stay in markets once an entry is
made. Regression analyses of the factors that influence
survival past the first year reveal that this is positively
correlated with the initial dollar value (starting big makes
a difference) and is helped by the firm's experience
with the product and the destination, but hindered by a lack
of focus. Agglomeration of exporters in the same destination
with the same product is beneficial, an effect analogous to
external economies of scale. The authors conclude by
recommending that the focus of export promotion activity
should be on helping existing exporters find and stay in new markets. |
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