Sequentially exporting products across countries

Albornoz, Facundo; Calvo Pardo, Héctor F; Corcos, Gregory; Ornelas, Emanuel

Abstract

Exploiting disaggregated data on French exporters, we show that firms expand their product scope and geographical presence sequentially. This process of internationalization is uneven over time, exhibiting more volatility early than later in the life cycle of exporters. Specifically, young exporters are particularly likely to exit, and if they keep exporting, to expand at the intensive and sub-extensive margins, doing so by widening product scope within a destination before entering new destinations. We also find that firms' core products are particularly resilient despite being used to “test the waters” when entering additional countries. Existing models of firm export dynamics are not designed to explain these empirical regularities. We argue that they can be rationalized by a mechanism where new exporters are uncertain about the profitability of their products in different markets, but learn from their initial export experiences and then adjust their sales, number of products and destination countries accordingly.

Citation

Albornoz, F., Calvo Pardo, H. F., Corcos, G., & Ornelas, E. (2023). Sequentially exporting products across countries. Journal of International Economics, 142, Article 103735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2023.103735

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 8, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 7, 2023
• Publication Date: May 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 8, 2024
• Journal: Journal of International Economics
• Print ISSN: 0022-1996
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-0353
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 142
• Article Number: 103735
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2023.103735
• Keywords: Export dynamics; experimentation; uncertainty; multiproduct firms; market inter- dependence
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/18762626
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022199623000211?via%3Dihub
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Sequentially exporting products across countries; Journal Title: Journal of International Economics; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2023.103735