The recent literature on firm exporting behaviour has established that both sunk-cost of exports and firm characteristics, such as size and productivity matter. In this paper we provide fresh evidence on the actual barriers to exporting firms face and how they vary with export experience and...

The question of learning versus self-selection has dominated the micro-econometric literature on firm export decisions, without leading to any firm conclusions. In part this reflects the limited information content of the data typically used. In this paper we use survey data on UK firms to offer...

This paper investigates various aspects of the links between exporting and productivity for a large sample of firms in the United Kingdom. We find evidence to support the proposition that sunk costs are important. Self selection takes place, with larger and more productive firms entering export...

Recent evidence on the impact of fiscal policy, taxes, public expenditures and budget deficits on long-run growth in OECD countries has adopted the Barro (1990) framework to distinguish between ‘productive’ and ‘unproductive’ expenditures, and ‘distortionary’ and...

It is well known that the performance of foreign firms compared to domestic companies is superior with respect to employment, wages, and productivity. In this paper we detail the export behaviour of foreign affiliates in the United Kingdom relative to indigenous firms. Our findings show that...

During the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese manufacturers began to relocate production from sites in Japan to low-wage East Asian countries such as China, Malaysia and Thailand. Imports of manufacturing goods increased substantially over the same period. This rapid rise in imports, and proliferation of...

Intervention to support export initiatives is commonplace in both industralized and developing countries. Such intervention is underpinned by the view that exporting is good for growth, typified by the success of the South East Asian tiger economies. Yet, while the evidence is largely...