The Role of Services for Manufacturing Firms� Exports (original) (raw)
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The role of services for manufacturing firm exports
Review of World Economics, 2014
Manufacturing firms increasingly focus on services. This trend is evident in their composition of input, in-house production and seemingly also in total sale. Firms' services intensity may affect their productivity, and thereby competitiveness abroad. Services are also instrumental in connecting to the foreign market and can help firms to differentiate their offers. However, only bits and pieces of the relation between services and manufacturing's exports have been analysed in previous literature. This study contributes by discussing the role of services for the firm, arriving at some conjectures and testing them empirically. Export intensity is regressed on two services parameters, applying a fractional model to a rich panel of firms in Sweden in the period 2001-2007. The microeconometric results suggest that there is an effect of services inputs, while controlling for covariates and firm heterogeneity. Raising the proportion of services in in-house production, on average, yields higher export intensity. Buying-in more services is associated with higher export intensity for firms in selected industries. Overall, the study provides new firm-level evidence of the role of services as inputs in manufacturing.
The Role of Services for Firms' Export Intensity
2011
Manufacturing firms are increasingly focusing on services. This trend is evident in their composition of input, in-house production and seemingly also in total sale. Manufacturing firms‟ services intensity is likely to affect productivity and thereby their competitiveness abroad. However, only bits and pieces of the relation between services and manufacturing‟s export performance have been analysed in theoretical and empirical literature. This study contributes by discussing the role of services for the manufacturing firm, arriving at some conjectures and testing them empirically. Export intensity is regressed on two services parameters, applying a fractional Tobit model to a rich panel of firms in Sweden in the period 2001-2007. The microeconometric results indicate that there is an effect of services inputs, while controlling for covariates and firm heterogeneity. Raising the proportion of services in in-house production yields higher export intensity. Furthermore, buying-in more ...
Manufacturing exports and the impact of business services
2014
This paper investigates the contribution provided by the Business service sector (BS) to the international competitiveness of manufacturing industries that acquire and use intangible intermediate inputs (in particular those provided by two main BS sub-sectors: “Communication and computer related services ” and “Other business activities”). The main empirical focus of this paper is on the “dynamic efficiency gains ” brought about by the interaction of manufacturing and BS industries and, in particular, on assessing the role of BS in supporting (in a Schumpeterian fashion) various types of non-price competitive factors, the most important being the capacity of developing and introducing new products, more effective organizational innovations and new business models. The empirical analysis is based on an original data set obtained by integrating – for a selected number of EU countries- different industry level data sources, namely the OECD Input-Output Tables, the OECD Structural Analy...
2013
This paper investigates the contribution provided by the Business service sector (BS) to the international competitiveness of manufacturing industries that acquire and use intangible intermediate inputs (in particular those provided by two main BS sub-sectors: “Communication and computer related services” and “Other business activities”). The main valued added of this paper consists of having assessed the role played by BS on the export performances of manufacturing sectors integrating – for a selected number of EU countries - different industry level data sources, namely the OECD Input-Output Tables, the OECD Structural Analysis Database and data provided by the Community Innovation Survey. The results of the empirical analysis show that BS do exert a positive impact on the international competitiveness of manufacturing industries even though these effects vary according to the type of intermediate intangible input acquired and type of user sector.
SERVICES INPUTS AND EXPORT PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES
The objective of current paper is to explore the impact of services inputs on export performance of manufacturing firms in transition economies. The results of the study provide a new understanding of the consequences of trade liberalization in services sector. In particular, positive impact of services sector efficiency on export performance of manufacturers is revealed. Along with services impact, we find that firm specific characteristics such as introduction of new products, investments in research and development, employment of advanced technologies, and employee skills are key drivers of export performance in manufacturing sector in transition economies. Firm's size and foreign investments do matter as well. The results of this study provide information for policymakers and stakeholders that will facilitate elaboration of policy interventions aimed at improvement of export performance of manufacturers in transition economies.
2015
In this paper, we try to examine and assess the contribution of services towards India’s manufacturing exports at the firm level. In other words, the role of services in shaping the international competiveness of the Indian Manufacturing Sector at the firm level is examined. Services are instrumental in connecting to the world market and can help firms to differentiate their products. However, only bits and pieces of the relation between services and exports have been analyzed in the earlier literature. Most of the earlier studies relating to services have explored the link between services and Total Factor Productivity. The relation between services and exports has not been explored at the firm level in case of India. This also gives a justification for conducting the present study. With now firm level databases available, it allows us to explore this part in details. For exploring this link, the firm level data was collected from the Centre for Monitoring of The Indian Economy (Pr...
The Impact of Services Sector on Export Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Transition Economies
The objective of the current paper is to explore the impact of services inputs on export performance of manufacturing firms in transition economies. The results of the study provide a new understanding of the consequences of trade liberalization in services sector. In particular, positive impact of services sector efficiency on export performance of manufacturers is revealed. Thus, advancing liberalization reforms in telecommunications, electric power, railway transport, road transport, and water distribution sectors as well as in banking sector will stimulate expansion of export activities of manufacturers. Along with services impact, we find that firm specific characteristics such as introduction of new products, investments in research and development, employment of advanced technologies, and employee skills are key drivers of export performance in manufacturing sector in transition economies. Firm's size and foreign investments do matter as well. The results of the study have several policy implications. The first insight is that an efficient service sector infrastructure represents a strategic and underexploited resource of export enhancement that can be influenced by policy makers. To stimulate export performance of manufacturing industries policy makers must emphasize further reforms and liberalization of their services sectors. These reforms must be focused on providing adequate access to services for downstream industries and thus on reducing their costs of doing business. Moreover, government should create favorable conditions for attracting foreign direct investments and encourage investments in innovation, research and development, employment of advanced technologies. A final policy point is that reducing trade related costs through trade and customs procedures facilitation would also increase exports.
Producer Services and Trade in Manufactured Goods
This study analyses the interrelationship between goods and producer services in production and trade using the most recent input-output tables for all OECD countries. It first presents descriptive statistics that illustrate the role of services in production and trade in goods. Trade in services could in principle contribute to a broader services supplier base that supports competitiveness in high-technology and high value added manufacturing. However, cross-border trade in producer services is often quite marginal and commercial presence appears to be the favoured mode of servicing foreign markets. We find a positive empirical relationship between openness to foreign investment as measured by the OECD FDI restrictiveness index and exports and productivity in downstream manufacturing industries. I also find that a higher business services content is correlated with a higher value to weight ratio, suggesting that services intensity is related to a higher degree of processing and eco...
… of Innovation and Organizational Economics (DRUID …, 2008
Using a sample of 1,873 Danish firms in manufacturing and services, this paper addresses the issue of the determinants of firm-level export behavior. The findings give support the idea that Danish service firms' export activities are of economic importance in that they are exporters to a high degree. Moreover, the provided regression results are consistent with the idea that innovative activities -in particular customers as sources of innovative activities -are determinants of export intensity. The determinants of export intensity in services and manufacturing appear to be strikingly similar, in particular with respect to innovation-related variables.
Asia-Pacific Economic Review, 1996
Services dominate the economic landscape of the post-industrial OECD economies, typically accounting for between 60 and 70 percent of employment and a comparable share of GDP. Growth of the service sector is also recognised to be an important aspect of economic development and is strongly associated with income growth and economic modernisation. Explanations for the importance of services in modern economies, relative both to low-income countries and to historic patterns within OECD countries themselves, have emphasised demand-side factors. Yet, while emphasis in the services literature has been placed on final expenditure patterns and prices, some of the most striking aspects of service sector growth relate instead to the relationship of services to the production structure of economies, and particularly the relationship of the service sector to manufacturing.