Heterogeneous Exporters: Qualitative Differences and Qualitative Similarities 
Firm heterogeneity has been at the center of recent research in the international trade literature. Both theoretical and empirical work has shown the importance of firm productivity differences in shaping aggregate trade flows (Melitz and Redding 2014). Typically, the analysis centers on the distinction between exporters and nonexporters (Bernard and Jensen 1999, Roberts and Tybout 1997). A strand of the literature also studies how firms choose their set of export destinations and/or exported products (Eaton, Kortum, and Kramarz 2011, Bernard et al. 2016, Hottman, Redding, and Weinstein 2016). This paper extends the literature and, using detailed data on Colombian manufactures, studies the relationship between a firm's productivity and the various aspects that characterize its exporting decisions—the combined quantitative and qualitative features that encompass the firm's engagement in international markets.
Key Findings
- The exporter productivity premium is remarkably robust across the methodologies used to estimate total factor productivity (TFP).
- The most productive exporters are those that export (1) a higher share of their total production, (2) to more countries, (3) to destinations reached less frequently by other exporters, (4) a larger number of products, (5) with greater frequency and stability.
- In contrast, the type of destination country or the type of exported product has no significant effect on exporter productivity differences.
- These findings are robust to alternative definitions and specifications.
Implications
These facts can provide useful guidelines for policymakers. In particular, the large productivity differences between continuous and occasional exporters are worth taking into account when designing (trade) policies. For instance, when designing economic policies that aim to improve a country's productivity and economic growth by enhancing foreign trade, these findings suggest that such policies should focus not only on helping firms enter foreign markets but also on helping them to remain as exporters. Further, these findings suggest that helping exporters expand the number of markets (countries they reach and products they export) can be associated with productivity gains. Thus, policies might be more effective if instead of being focused on facilitating access to a specific type of market, they focused on increasing the number of markets available to firms.
Abstract
We combine two detailed datasets on Colombian manufacturing firms and document several stylized facts on exporter heterogeneity of total factor productivity (TFP) and export-market orientation, refining some previously known facts and unveiling some new others. We first show that the exporter productivity premium is remarkably robust across the methodologies used to recover TFP. We then document that the most productive exporters are those that export (1) a higher share of their total production, (2) to a larger number of countries, (3) to destinations lessfrequently reached by other exporters, (4) a larger number of products, and (5) with greater frequency and stability. In contrast, (6) the type of destination country or (7) the type of exported product has no significant effect on exporter productivity differences. These facts are robust to alternative definitions and specifications and can provide useful guidelines for policy makers.