Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (19)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Baldwin, J. R.
Right arrow Articles by Gu, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Related Collections
Right arrow F13 - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
Right arrow F14 - Country and Industry Studies of Trade
Right arrow F23 - Multinational Firms; International Business
Right arrow J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
Right arrow L25 - Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
Right arrow L60 - General
Right arrow O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

OXFORD REVIEW OF ECONOMIC POLICY, VOL. 20, NO. 3, PP. 372-392
Oxford Review of Economic Policy vol. 20 no. 3 2004 © Oxford University Press and the Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited 2004; all rights reserved.

Trade Liberalization: Export-market Participation, Productivity Growth, and Innovation

John R. Baldwin
Wulong Gu
Statistics Canada1

Abstract

The paper examines how Canadian manufacturing plants have responded to reductions in tariff barriers between Canada and the rest of world over the past two decades. Three main conclusions emerge from the analysis. First, trade liberalization was a significant factor behind the strong export growth of the Canadian manufacturing sector. As trade barriers fell, more Canadian plants entered the export market and existing exporters increased their share of shipments sold abroad. Second, export-market participation was associated with increases in a plant's productivity growth. Third, our analysis identified the presence of three main mechanisms through which export-market participation raises productivity growth among plants: learning by exporting; exposure to international competition; and increases in product specialization that allowed for exploitation of scale economies. Our evidence also shows that plants that move into export markets increase investments in R&D and training to develop capacities for absorbing foreign technologies and international best practices. Finally, entering export markets leads to increases in the number of advanced technologies being used, increases in foreign sourcing for advanced technologies, and improvements in the information available to firms about advanced technologies. It is also associated with improvements in the novelty of the innovations that are introduced.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 OXF ECON PAPHome page
R. Harris and Q. C. Li
Exporting, R&D, and absorptive capacity in UK establishments
Oxf. Econ. Pap., January 1, 2009; 61(1): 74 - 103.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.