15th FIW-Workshop

The Trade-Productivity Nexus in the European Economy

Empirical Evidence from Firm Level Data

Time:            16^th of March, 2012

                    9:00 - 14:00

Location:       Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw)

                    Rahlgasse 3

                    1060 Vienna

Exporting firms are larger and more productive than their non-exporting peers. This is one of the robust empirical facts established by empirical studies of heterogeneous firms active in international markets. Hence, there is a clear positive relationship between exporting and productivity. These results are based mainly on country-specific studies due to the lack of comparable cross-country data. This workshop features a contribution on the cross-country dimension of the export behaviour of European firms based on a recently developed cross-country firm level data set covering seven European countries. Next to the cross-country dimension the workshop will also focus on the issue of causality between exporting and productivity. The results from both the cross-country comparison and causality-question have important policy implications. A policy panel takes up the issue of implications and discusses which types of firms should be the target of export promotion and what kind of export promotion is needed to spur growth and support the internationalization of firms.

Programme

9:00    Entrance, coffee

9:30    Opening Remarks: Manfred Schekulin (BMWFJ),
Michael Landesmann and Roman Stöllinger (FIW, wiiw)

The Trade-Productivity Nexus in the European Economy

9:45    Session I – Lectures
Chairman: Michael Landesmann (FIW, wiiw)

Carlo Altomonte (Bocconi University)
Exporting and Productivity - The Cross Country Dimension

Richard Kneller (University of Nottingham)
Exporting and Productivity - The Issue of Causality

11:30   Coffee break

12:00   Session II – Policy Panel

What kind of export promotion are needed to spur growth and for whom?

Chairman: Manfred Schekulin (BMWFJ)

Participants:

Norbert Knoll (AWS) t.b.c.
Supporting growth strategies through export promotion and beyond: Instrument choice in and complementarities between policies

Ferdinand Schipfer (OeKB)
Austrian export- and FDI-promotion and the OeKB-group of companies

Werner Hölzl
Some thoughts on the (possible) impact of export promotion on (aggregate) growth