Sector-level competition and export: Evidence from Exporter Dynamics Database

Abstract

We study the effect of sector-level competition on export by utilizing the Exporter Dynamics Database of the World Bank that provides sector-level competition measure along with destination-specific detailed export data. The results of the analysis show a nonlinear effect of sector-level competition on export. While at less competitive sectors, an increase in competition depresses export, at highly competitive sectors, an increase in competition generates a trade-promoting effect on export. The observed nonlinear effect is robust across sectors and countries. Therefore, productivity of peer firms could generate negative effect on a firm's export performance contrary to the usual positive effect of a firm's own productivity.