Firm Productivity, Exchange Rate Movements, Sources of Finance, and Export Orientation

We investigate the level and volatility effects of real exchange rates on productivity growth of manufacturing firms with heterogeneous access to debt, and domestic and foreign equity markets in Turkey. We find that while volatility affects productivity growth negatively, having access to foreign or domestic equity, or debt markets does not alleviate these effects. Furthermore, foreign or publicly traded companies do not appear to perform significantly better than the rest. We detect, however, that productivity is positively related to credit market access. Additionally, we find that while export-oriented firms react positively to currency appreciations, they are hurt more from volatility.