Exports and New Products in China – A Generalised Propensity Score Approach with Firm-to-Firm Spillovers
研究出口如何直接促进中国企业推出新产品，以及通过接触其他出口企业产生的间接溢出效应，使用广义倾向得分方法处理选择偏差，发现出口对新产品有显著正向影响，溢出效应虽较小但存在。
Underpinning China’s technological advancement are the twin-engines of exports and innovation. To better understand China’s meteoric economic transformation, we explore the extent to which new products are triggered by exports (direct effects) and by exposure to other exporters (indirect effects). Our methodology (generalised propensity score model) tackles two sources of selectivity bias–at the level of the firm and neighbourhood. Given that production is highly specialised and localised, it would be unusual if firms failed to learn from exposure to local exporters.Our findings reveal an overwhelmingly positive direct effect of exports on new product introductions. Also, a more modest spillover effect. Interestingly, firms with a reduced need to innovate (processing exporters) can also appropriate export spillovers. Our findings have implications for other developing countries seeking to maximise exporting in economic clusters, promoting innovation and ultimately growth.