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Entry, Expansion, and Intensity in the US Export Boom, 1987–1992
Author(s) -
Bernard Andrew B.,
Jensen J. Bradford
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
review of international economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.513
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1467-9396
pISSN - 0965-7576
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9396.2004.00473.x
Subject(s) - boom , economics , productivity , sunk costs , international economics , intensity (physics) , international trade , monetary economics , macroeconomics , engineering , microeconomics , physics , quantum mechanics , environmental engineering
US exports grew at 10.3% per year from 1987 to 1992, far faster than the economy as a whole. This paper examines sources of the manufacturing export boom, including entry, firm expansion, and export intensity. Most of the increase in exports came from increasing export intensity at existing exporters rather than from new entry into exporting. The small role of entry relative to export intensity offers support for the importance of sunk costs in the export market. Changes in exchange rates and rises in foreign income drove most of the export increase, while plant productivity increases played a smaller role.