Do Exported Firms Induce Firms Export?

This paper studies the impact of exported firms on the other firms ‘exporting choice,in another word, whether exported firms induce un-exported firms export. By usingChinese manufacturing enterprises data of2005and2006, we examine this effect attwo levels: the provinces-industries level and individual firm level. The results showthat on the provinces-industries level, the numbers of new export firms (breadth) andaverage export scales (depth) are affected significantly by the previous year’sexported firms. Firms’ productivity doesn’t have significant impact on the numbers ofnew export firms (breadth) but have significant impact on the average export scales(depth).Factors affecting individual firm’s export choice are complex. Firm’s exportingdecision is affected significantly by the previous year’s exporting firms, and alsoaffected by firm size, financing constraints, R&D investment and other factors. Newexport firms’ scale is also affected by exported firms, to the new exporters the higherthe productivity, the higher their exporting scales. This reveals that exported firms caninduce firm exporting and affect its’ exporting scales.