Spanish Export Research Articles

The negative impact of disintegration on trade: The case of Brexit

Using firm-level export and import transactions and by applying an event study methodology, we quantify the impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU’s single market and customs union on Spain–UK trade flows. We find that Spanish exports and imports to the UK decreased by 24% and 27%, respectively, compared to the period before the Brexit referendum. The probability of Spanish exporters and importers starting a trade relationship with the UK decreased and the probability of ending one increased. Products subject to sanitary and phytosanitary measures, stringent rules of origin, and whose technical standards had not been harmonized before disintegration experienced a stronger decline in trade flows. Large firms faced a more severe decrease in exports than small ones after disintegration.

How exporters neutralised an increase in tariffs

AbstractI use the unanticipated and large additional tariffs the US imposed on European Union products due to the Airbus‐Boeing conflict to analyse how exporters reacted to a change in trade policy. Using firm‐level data for Spain and applying a difference‐in‐differences methodology, I show that the export revenue in the US of the firms affected by the tariff hike did not significantly decrease relative to the one of other Spanish exporters to the US. I show that Spanish exporters were able to neutralise the increase in tariffs by substituting Spanish products with products originated in countries unaffected by tariffs and shifting to varieties not affected by tariffs. My results show that tariff avoidance is another margin exporters can use to counteract the effects of a tariff hike.

Effects of destination countries financial development and public export credit guarantees on Spanish exports

Without accounting for the period 2008–2009, the evolution of Spanish exports from 2001 to 2015 was marked by constant growth. This period includes an economic recession in Spain from 2008 to 2013, which was accompanied by important credit restrictions to the private sector. This environment pushed Spanish firms abroad for survival, affecting the geographical mapping of exports. With this study, we examined the role played by the degree of financial development in destination countries, and by the export credit guarantees issued by CESCE, the Spanish export credit agency (ECA) in the evolution of such exports. Following previous studies, we proxied the financial development in the destination countries and used CESCE’s new business underwritten on exports between Spain and 161 destination countries. We applied a modified gravity model and a System GMM estimator to show that the effects of the financial development in the destination countries on Spanish exports differed by regions and by periods, becoming statistically non-significant during the period of higher financial stress in Spain. Our results also provide evidence that CESCE behaved countercyclically during this period and contributed to the geographical diversification of Spanish exports.

Spain — China: dynamics of trade and economic relations development

Spain is a member state of the European Union, which occupies one of the leading places in the world economy. Over the past decade, this country has paid particular attention to expanding the internationalization of its economy, including by striving for geographical diversification of exports and investment activity, for taking on new target markets for products produced in the country, especially agricultural ones, since traditionally the main partners of the country in foreign economic activity are member states of the EU. A development strategy of foreign economic activities (FEA) was developed in the country to achieve these goals. China is not the main trade and economic partner of Spain, however, it is a strategic partner with a high potential for developing bilateral cooperation. The article studies the dynamics of the development of foreign economic relations between Spain and China from 2008 to 2019; main data of export-import operations, including by commodity groups, are given; principal developments in bilateral relations are mentioned. It is concluded that the growth rate of trade flow has increased by more than 65 % over 10 years, including the expansion of Spanish export supplies, in particular products of agroindustrial complex (AIC), share of which reached 30 % in 2019; intensification of interaction at the institutional level is noted, as well as expansion of the activities of Spanish transnational corporations (TNC) in China, where at least one of the corporations opened its 23rd production facility in 2019. The author used a systematic and interdisciplinary approach when working with a variety of scientific and practical materials, including Spanish legislation, annual reports and statistics of national government bodies, analytical reviews of international economic organizations, media publications, as well as economic and statistical analysis. The scientifi c novelty of the work is in a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of the development of trade and economic relations between Spain and China.

A hidden fight behind neutrality. Spain’s struggle on exchange rates and gold during the Great War

Abstract The aim of this article is to analyse the effects on Spain as a neutral country of the monetary measures adopted by the largest allied nations during the First World War. We will focus on the intervention of exchange rates and on the measures aimed at limiting gold outflows from belligerent countries. The distortions derived from these policies gave rise, in some cases, to additional profits for Spanish exporters and intermediaries, while in others prevented the effective transformation of some benefits from war into valuable assets and pushed them to be dragged down by the economic disturbances of the post-war period.

Is competition from China so special?

AbstractCompetition from China is perceived as particularly damaging. We study whether this is true for firm performance. Using the universe of Spanish export transactions, we find that an increase in competition from China does not have a more damaging effect on export revenues, prices and number of exported products than an equally sized increase in competition from other countries. We document, though, that Chinese competition raises the probability that a firm ceases to export a good to a destination more than competition from other countries. This effect declines over time. We document an omitted variable bias in studies focusing only on Chinese competition, even when controlling for unobserved heterogeneity of destinations for different products within firms.

Las condiciones de entrega en el comercio exterior español

Las condiciones de entrega en el comercio exterior, sintetizadas mediante los Incoterms, apenas han sido analizadas en la literatura económica sobre costes de transporte. En este trabajo se lleva a cabo una primera aproximación para el comercio exterior español, utilizando para ello la Estadística de Comercio Exterior. Además de mostrar los principales patrones en el uso de los Incoterms por parte de los exportadores e importadores españoles, se estima un modelo de respuesta binaria en el que la variable a explicar distingue si el vendedor se encarga o no del transporte principal. Se ha obtenido que la distancia, la renta per cápita y el ratio peso/valor pueden influir en la elección de los Incoterms.

International expansion: mediation of dynamic capabilities

PurposeTaking into account the resource-based view and the dynamic capabilities theory, the main aim of this research is to analyse how the intensification of the internationalisation process entails a solution for the problems generated by an economic crisis in the national market. To do so, we establish two specific goals. The first is to find out the mediator value of the dynamic marketing capability in the relation between the strategy of increasing markets and performance. The second is to determine if there exist differences in this relation between firms of incremental internationalisation and firms of early internationalisation, called international new ventures (INV).Design/methodology/approachThe study provides information on these problems via testing hypotheses of a conceptual model, which uses a sample of 145 Spanish export firms. The data analysis employs a structural equation modelling (SEM) through partial least squares (PLS) as a statistical instrument.FindingsThe results lead to two main conclusions: (1) in times of economic crisis, the dynamic marketing capability plays a mediator role between the increase of the number of international markets served and the international and national results; (2) the dynamic marketing capabilities bring about learning effects in the internationalisation process, which affect incremental firms and INV differently.Originality/valueThis work explores, in times of crisis, how internationalisation becomes a way out for firms to increase the levels of demand and improve their general performance. Furthermore, it also analyses the mediator role of the dynamic marketing capability in the relation between the increase of the level of internationalisation and the firm performance. In this relation, it establishes that there are significant differences in the results obtained between incremental internationalisation firms and INV, determining the notable strategic differences between the two management models when facing periods of economic recession.

A gendered analysis of Spanish SMEs' export managers in externalised channels

A gendered analysis of Spanish SMEs' export managers in externalised channels

Spanish Companies Exporting Goods to the United Kingdom: Stylised Features and Recent Developments by Region

This article analyses, by region, the trade exposure of Spanish firms to the United Kingdom, based on individual information from the Balance of Payments and the Central Balance Sheet Data Office. Exposure to the UK economy shows some regional variability. Since 2016 there has been a fairly widespread downward trend of this exposure in terms both of nominal exports of goods to the United Kingdom and of the number of companies engaging in this activity. The vulnerability of Spanish export companies to Brexit is, in part, moderated in broad terms by their productivity levels and by the degree of geographical diversification of their exports, which are higher than at firms which trade with the main euro area partners.

New exporters benefit more from information spillovers

ABSTRACT Using the universe of Spanish export transactions over 2000–2012, this paper explores empirically whether the choice of destinations among experienced and new exporters is affected by the number and performance of previous exporters in those destinations. The regression analysis shows that new exporters benefit more from information spillovers than experienced exporters. Results hold when spillovers are measured both at the regional and regional-industry level.

Venting Out: Exports During a Domestic Slump

We exploit plausibly exogenous geographical variation in the reduction in domestic demand caused by the Great Recession in Spain to document the existence of a robust, within-firm negative causal relationship between demand-driven changes in domestic sales and export flows. Spanish manufacturing firms whose domestic sales were reduced by more during the crisis observed a larger increase in their export flows, even after controlling for firms' supply determinants (such as labor costs). This negative relationship between demand-driven changes in domestic sales and changes in export flows illustrates the capacity of export markets to counteract the negative impact of local demand shocks. We rationalize our findings through a standard heterogeneous-firm model of exporting expanded to allow for non-constant marginal costs of production. Using a structurally estimated version of this model, we conclude that the firm-level responses to the slump in domestic demand in Spain could well have accounted for around one-half of the spectacular increase in Spanish goods exports (the so-called `Spanish export miracle') over the period 2009-13.

EXPORT DIVERSIFICATION AND EXPORT PERFORMANCE BY DESTINATION COUNTRY

ABSTRACTThe main focus of this paper is the relationship between export diversification and export performance. The key difference with respect to the previous literature is that export diversification is measured and related to export volume by destination country. The approach is empirical and an aggregate export demand setting is adopted to test the significance and influence of export diversification, measured via the Herfindahl index, on export performance by destination country. The econometric estimation is performed using export data for Spain to its partner countries for the period 1999–2011. The main finding is the positive relationship between Spanish export concentration and export performance by destination market. This finding is shown to be robust to several econometric specifications.

Agglomeration by export destination: evidence from Spain

We use a dataset of Spanish exporters with rich spatial information to document the existence of agglomeration economies by export destination. More specifically, we show that, for a large set of export destinations, exporters are geographically too close to be the result of a random outcome. We also analyze the variables that explain the cross-destination heterogeneity in agglomeration. We find that firms selling to countries with worse institutions, a dissimilar language and a different currency are significantly more agglomerated. These results suggest that the value provided by agglomeration is higher concerning destinations where entry is more difficult.

Examining the impact of managerial involvement with social media on exporting firm performance

The growth of social media presents international businesses and marketers with unprecedented risks and challenges. Marketers are becoming aware of the threat of losing control over their message and are also beginning to realize the potential of social media as a marketing tool. Based on export managers’ beliefs about social media use outcomes, as well as their attitudes, intention to use, and actual use of these applications of Web 2.0, three groups of Spanish exporters are identified according their managerial involvement with social media tools: ‘potential in SM’, ‘initiated in SM’, and ‘expert in SM’. Considering other firm characteristics and type of sector, these three clusters of exporting firms are fully characterized and their relationship with firm performance is determined. From these results, relevant implications emerge for academic researchers, entrepreneur-managers and policy-makers.

The great trade collapse and the Spanish export miracle: Firm‐level evidence from the crisis

AbstractWe provide novel evidence on the microstructure of international trade during the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent global recession by exploring a rich firm‐level data set from Spain. The focus of our analysis is on changes at the extensive and intensive firm‐level margins of trade, as well as on performance differences (jobs, productivity and firm survival) across firms that differ in their export status. We find no adverse effects of the financial crisis on foreign market entry or exit, but a considerable increase in the export intensity of firms after the financial crisis. Moreover, we find that exporters were more resilient to the crisis than non‐exporters. Finally, while exporters showed a significantly more favourable development of total factor productivity after 2009 than non‐exporters, aggregate productivity declined substantially in a large number of industries in Spanish manufacturing. We also briefly explore two factors that might help explain the surprisingly strong export performance of Spain in the aftermath of the great trade collapse: improved aggregate competitiveness due to internal and external devaluation and a substitutive relationship between domestic and foreign sales at the firm level.

The Variation of Export Prices Across and within Firms

This paper uses transaction-level trade data to analyse the differences in export prices across and within Spanish manufacturing firms in the year 2014. The transactional nature of the database uncovers sizable differences in the price that an exporter charges for the same product and destination. These differences are related to the number of goods covered within each product category, volume discounts and vertically differentiated varieties. Export prices are positively correlated with firms’ productivity, destination markets’ GDP per capita and distance to Spain. These latter results suggest that Spanish exporters compete in quality.

Export specialisation and output synchronisation in the euro area: The case of Southern countries

Business cycle synchronisation and the similarity in the sectoral structure of exports are key conditions for the successful implementation of common monetary policy, as shown by the theory of Optimum Currency Areas. This paper examines the degree of correlation between the aggregate euro area and 12 member states’ business cycles and the role of their exports specialisation dynamics vis-à-vis the euro area over the period 1981–2012, focusing in particular on Southern European countries. Overall, we find that since the inception of the European Monetary Union, the business cycles of euro area member states have been increasingly synchronised with the aggregate euro area cycle, with the exception of Greece. We also document that changes in the Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish export structures brought these countries closer to the euro area structure as a whole. Furthermore, we find a positive and significant relationship between the similarity of export structures and GDP cyclical correlations.

¿INFLUYE LA PERSONALIDAD DE LOS DIRECTIVOS DE PYMES EN LOS RESULTADOS EXPORTADORES?

RESUMEN En este trabajo se analiza si los valores según la escala de Schwartz varían entre los directivos responsables de exportación de Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas (PyMEs) entre las empresas con mayor éxito exportador, frente a las que tienen un éxito exportador limitado. El estudio se aplica a una muestra de 196 PyMEs españolas exportadoras. En primer lugar se aplica un clúster de clases latentes para clasificar las empresas en función del performance exportador, para después aplicar test de comparaciones de medias y buscar diferencias significativas en los valores de Schwartz entre directivos de empresas de ambos grupos. Los valores en los que aparecen diferencias significativas son: honestidad, influencia, ambición, lealtad, justicia social, autoridad, vida excitante y orden social.

Per-Shipment Costs and the Lumpiness of International Trade

Abstract Using detailed U.S. and Spanish export data, we document that trade costs of a per-shipment nature are associated with less frequent and larger shipments (i.e., more lumpiness) in international trade. This finding is pervasive across broad product categories, but most apparent for industrial supplies, parts and accessories, and food products.