Economic performance and international trade engagement: the case of Portuguese manufacturing firms

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2013

Authors

Armando Silva (Author) Other; Óscar Afonso (Author) FEP; Ana Paula Africano Silva (Author) FEP

Journal

Title: International Economics and Economic Policy

Vol. 10 No. 4

Pages: 521-547

ISSN: 1612-4804

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

Scopus - 18 Citations

Econlit

Scientific classification

FOS: Social sciences > Economics and Business

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-008-HFT

DOI: 10.1007/s10368-012-0221-8

Abstract (EN): By combining economic and financial data for Portuguese manufacturing firms with data on their exports and imports, we uncover some aspects of the relationship between international trade engagement and firms' performances. In line with recent theoretical and empirical developments in the international trade literature: (i) we testify that Portuguese international trade is highly concentrated, especially on the import side, and both in inter- and intra-sector terms; (ii) we corroborate previous studies and theses according to which two-way traders outperform only importers, only exporters and above all domestic firms; (iii) we find that the greater the diversification of markets and goods (especially with regard to imports), the better the performance achieved by internationalised firms; (iv) we notice that the higher the intensity of firms' international trade (especially imports), the better their performance; (v) we also present evidence that destination markets for exports and origin markets for imports are also important in explaining firm's performance.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific