Import Churning and Export Performance of Multi-product Firms

摘要

In this paper, we study the impact of net and gross churning in imported varieties of capital and intermediate goods on firm export scope and productivity. Using detailed data on imports and exports at the firm-product-market level, we document substantial churning both in imports and exports for Slovenian firms in the period 1994-2008. An average firm changes about one-quarter of imported and exported varieties every year, while gross churning in terms of added and dropped goods in trade is found to be almost three times higher. We find, however, that a substantial proportion of products added or dropped on a year-to-year basis consists of identical varieties, that is, firms simultaneously import and export varieties within the same CN-8 product code. In fact, one-quarter of all exported varieties and 40 per cent of all newly added exported varieties in the current year comprises varieties, which the same firm has imported in the same or in the previous year. This implies that POT trade has to be taken into account when accounting for the gains of trade through the channel of imported varieties.