International Sourcing and Firm Learning : Evidence from Serbian Firms
This paper uses merged customs and administrative data from Serbian firms to quantify the impact of neighboring firms’ importing experience on the decision to start sourcing inputs from new markets. The analysis finds that firms are more likely to...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/903471633369980079/International-Sourcing-and-Firm-Learning-Evidence-from-Serbian-Firms http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36341 |
| Summary: | This paper uses merged customs and
administrative data from Serbian firms to quantify the
impact of neighboring firms’ importing experience on the
decision to start sourcing inputs from new markets. The
analysis finds that firms are more likely to start importing
from a new market if neighboring firms in the same industry
and location have experience importing from that market and
if those firms are increasing their imports over time.
Further, the results support a distinction between imports
and exports for the decision to enter foreign markets;
unlike exports, import sourcing choices are not independent
across countries. The analysis finds that imports across
origins are substitutes, not complements. The paper also
investigates origin-country and firm heterogeneity. The
results indicate that the impact of neighboring firms’
importing experience is greater for source countries in the
European Union market and for firms that are high
productivity, foreign owned, and previous importers.
Together, these findings suggest that a firm’s spatial
connections are an important contributor to its access to
global markets as sources for inputs. |
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