Are Exporters More Likely to Introduce Product Innovations?

What is it about?

This article investigates whether exporting firms are more likely to introduce product innovations thanks to their involvement in foreign markets.

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Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This is important as a firm's engagement in foreign markets may improve its competitiveness by raising its innovative capacity. We seek to address potential selection issues (exporters being ex-ante also more innovative) by using measures of industry–province firm distances from their most likely export markets, and of these export markets’ potentials. Our analysis provides robust evidence of "learning by exporting" effects on firm innovation.