Does the development of the service outsourcing industry enhance green product exports? Quasi-natural experimental evidence from China
利用中国服务外包示范城市设立作为准自然实验，发现该政策通过服务业集聚、绿色创新和质量升级，显著提升了制造企业绿色产品出口的概率和规模，对小城市、环境规制严格地区、大企业和外资企业影响更强。
This paper considers the establishment of service outsourcing demonstration cities in China as a quasi-natural experiment, employing firm data from national tax survey data and Customs Database to investigate the impact of high-end services development in developing countries on the scale of green product exports. The results of the Heckman two-stage model indicate that the development of the service outsourcing industry not only increases the probability of green product exports by manufacturing firms but also significantly enhances the growth of green product exports. This positive effect is primarily attributed to the agglomeration of regional service sectors, enhancements in firms' green innovation capabilities, and upgrades in green product quality. The heterogeneity analysis reveals a stronger impact of service outsourcing demonstration city development in smaller cities, cities with stricter environmental regulations, larger enterprises, and foreign-invested firms. Further analysis using more granular firm-product-level data indicates that the impact of service outsourcing demonstration cities on green product exports varies across different production stages and trade modes. This study provides valuable insights for developing countries to enhance their green international competitiveness given the global division of labor and rising green trade barriers.