Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries

Standards and technical regulations set in importing countries have become a rising concern to exporters, especially to those in developing countries. This paper examines the importance of various types of standards in developing-country firms' export decisions. Drawn from the World Bank Techni...

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Main Authors:	Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang, Wilson, John S., Otsuki, Tsunehiro
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Subjects:	Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 Country and Industry Studies of Trade F140 Business Objectives of the Firm L210 International Linkages to Development Role of International Organizations O190
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5516

id	okr-10986-5516
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-55162021-04-23T14:02:22Z Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang Wilson, John S. Otsuki, Tsunehiro Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 Country and Industry Studies of Trade F140 Business Objectives of the Firm L210 International Linkages to Development Role of International Organizations O190 Standards and technical regulations set in importing countries have become a rising concern to exporters, especially to those in developing countries. This paper examines the importance of various types of standards in developing-country firms' export decisions. Drawn from the World Bank Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Survey database, we find that different types of standards exhibit sharply distinct relations with firms' intensive and extensive margins of exports. Quality standards are positively correlated not only with firms' average export volume across markets and products but also their export scope, measured by the number of export markets and products. A similar relationship is found between labeling requirements and export scope. Certification procedures, however, are associated with a significant decline in the number of export markets and export products. Our results suggest that different approaches should be taken to address each type of technical regulations. Not all standards need to be negotiated away to boost trade, but negotiations on certification procedures with the aim of reaching Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) can help firms improve economies of scale and scope. 2012-03-30T07:33:12Z 2012-03-30T07:33:12Z 2008 Journal Article Journal of International Trade and Economic Development 09638199 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5516 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
topic	Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 Country and Industry Studies of Trade F140 Business Objectives of the Firm L210 International Linkages to Development Role of International Organizations O190
spellingShingle	Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 Country and Industry Studies of Trade F140 Business Objectives of the Firm L210 International Linkages to Development Role of International Organizations O190 Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang Wilson, John S. Otsuki, Tsunehiro Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries
relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description	Standards and technical regulations set in importing countries have become a rising concern to exporters, especially to those in developing countries. This paper examines the importance of various types of standards in developing-country firms' export decisions. Drawn from the World Bank Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Survey database, we find that different types of standards exhibit sharply distinct relations with firms' intensive and extensive margins of exports. Quality standards are positively correlated not only with firms' average export volume across markets and products but also their export scope, measured by the number of export markets and products. A similar relationship is found between labeling requirements and export scope. Certification procedures, however, are associated with a significant decline in the number of export markets and export products. Our results suggest that different approaches should be taken to address each type of technical regulations. Not all standards need to be negotiated away to boost trade, but negotiations on certification procedures with the aim of reaching Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) can help firms improve economies of scale and scope.
format	Journal Article
author	Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang Wilson, John S. Otsuki, Tsunehiro
author_facet	Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang Wilson, John S. Otsuki, Tsunehiro
author_sort	Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang
title	Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries
title_short	Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries
title_full	Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries
title_fullStr	Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries
title_full_unstemmed	Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries
title_sort	standards and export decisions: firm-level evidence from developing countries
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5516
_version_	1764395331132325888

Standards and Export Decisions: Firm-Level Evidence from Developing Countries

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