How important is exporting and ownership to productivity growth? Micro Evidence from a Small Open Economy

This paper links the literature that analyses the sources of productivity growth with that which explores differences between the characteristics of exporters and non-exporters to examine the contributions to aggregate labour productivity growth of both groups. The analysis used Irish manufacturing plant-level data for 1998, 2001 and 2004. Using two different decomposition techniques, we uncover the contributions to aggregate labour productivity of continuing, entering and exiting firms based on exporting and ownership status. We find that within-firm productivity growth of exporters drives overall productivity growth, with significant differences apparent between the productivity growth rates of foreign and domestic owned establishments.