Our aim in this paper is twofold: to find whether FDI causes horizontal or vertical productivity spillovers to domestically-owned Hungarian manufacturing firms, and to see if distance matters in spillovers. For this exercise we use a large panel of Hungarian firms and different panel models. Consistently with previous research, at the country level, we find positive vertical spillovers but no evidence of positive horizontal spillovers. By taking distance into consideration, however, we find positive horizontal spillovers for domestic firms close to foreign-owned firms. By constructing spillover measures weighted by distance, we find similar patterns. Our results underline the importance of labour market rigidity and the local nature of knowledge in the case of horizontal spillovers. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors Journal compilation (c) 2007 The European Bank for Reconstruction Development .

In this study, we analyse the relationship between distance and f.o.b. export unit values using firm–product–destination data from Hungarian manufacturing. Using 10‐digit Harmonized System data, we show that a doubling of distance is associated with about 7.5 per cent increase in the average product‐level price, from which five percentage points can be attributed to within‐firm–product variation. We run a number of tests to look for heterogeneity in this pattern. Interestingly, the measured effect is very similar for domestic and foreign firms but distance seems to matter somewhat more for EU countries than outside the EU. We do not find much evidence for heterogeneity across product categories based on measures of vertical differentiation. The level of product aggregation matters; the distance coefficient is larger when products are aggregate to the eight or six‐digit level.

We analyse a very rich and unique panel database that provides information on exports at the firm‐product level. Motivated by the recent theory of multi‐product firms, we investigate what determines the survival of products in the export mix to find that, in export dynamics, characteristics of the product as well as that of the firm matter. In particular, firm productivity as well as product scale and tenure are associated with a higher export survival rate. This suggests, in line with theory, that there are firm‐ as well as firm‐product‐specific competencies that are important for shaping firms’ export mix.

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. types are susceptible to political manipulation and how politicians achieve this goal. Using township fixed-effect estimators to attenuate the simultaneity bias between municipality characteristics and political affiliation, we find that townships with a mayor endorsed by the governing parties obtain 10 percent higher grant value per capita. This effect varies widely by grant attributes: it is of 16-19 percent when the applicant is a public entity or the project's purpose is construction so it is visible to voters and thus may bring about electoral benefits. Terms of use: Documents inFor private applications and non-construction grants, where electoral gains are likely to be limited, the estimated effect is zero. Decomposing the township alignment effect into grant application effects (application intensity and the average value of grant) and grant decision effects (grant success rate and proportion of grant value received) reveals that both margins play a role in the political manipulation of grant distribution. When analyzing the effect of grants on votes, we show that voters indeed reward construction and public projects.

Firms adjust to differences in market size and demand uncertainty by changing the frequency and size of their export shipments. In our inventory model, transportation costs and optimal shipment frequency are determined on the basis of demand as well as inventory and per shipments costs. Using a cross section of monthly firm-product-destination level French export data we confirm that firms adjust on both margins for market size. In a stochastic setting, firms adjust to increased uncertainty by reducing their sales and, for a given export volume, by reducing their number of shipments and increasing their shipment size. JEL-Code: D400, F120, R400.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. We analyse a very rich and unique panel database which provides information on exports at the firm-product level. A stylised fact in the data is that many firms add as well as drop products from the export mix in any given year. Motivated by recent theory we investigate what determines the survival of products in the export mix. Estimating hazard models we find evidence that is consistent with the view that characteristics of the product as well as that of the firm matter. This suggests, in line with theory, that there are firm-as well as firm-product specific competencies that are important for shaping firms' export mix. Terms of use: Documents in JEL classification: F12, F14

No abstract