Market Access, Supplier Access, and Africa's Manufactured Exports : An Analysis of the Role of Geography and Institutions

In a large cross-country sample of manufacturing establishments drawn from 188 cities, average exports per establishment are smaller for African firms than for businesses in other regions. The authors show that this is mainly because, on average, African firms face more adverse economic geography and operate in poorer institutional settings. Once they control for the quality of institutions and economic geography, what in effect is a negative African dummy disappears from the firm level exports equation they estimate. One part of the effect of geography operates through Africa's lower "foreign market access:" African firms are located further away from wealthier or denser potential export markets. A second occurs through the region's lower "supplier access:" African firms face steeper input prices, partly because of their physical distance from cheaper foreign suppliers, and partly because domestic substitutes for importable inputs are more expensive. Africa's poorer institutions reduce its manufactured exports directly, as well as indirectly, by lowering foreign market access and supplier access. Both geography and institutions influence average firm level exports significantly more through their effect on the number of exporters than through their impact on how much each exporter sells in foreign markets.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Elbadawi, Ibrahim, Mengistae, Taye, Zeufack, Albert
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2006-06
Subjects:	AGGREGATE EXPORTS, BENCHMARKS, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, COMPARATIVE DISADVANTAGE, CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISON, DEMAND CURVE, DEMAND FUNCTION, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES, DOMESTIC FIRMS, DOMESTIC INDUSTRY, DOMESTIC MARKET, ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS, ECONOMETRIC MODELING, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC OUTCOMES, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ELASTICITY, ELASTICITY OF DEMAND, ELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTION, EXOGENOUS SHOCKS, EXPENDITURE, EXPORT DIVERSIFICATION, EXPORT MARKET, EXPORT MARKETS, EXPORT ORIENTATION, EXPORT PERFORMANCE, EXPORTERS, EXPORTS, FACTOR MARKETS, FACTOR PRICES, FACTOR SHARES, FDI, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, FOREIGN INVESTORS, FOREIGN MARKET, FOREIGN MARKET ACCESS, FOREIGN MARKETS, FOREIGN OWNERSHIP, FOREIGN SALES, FOREIGN SUPPLIERS, GDP, GLOBAL SHOCKS, GLOBAL TRADE, GRAVITY EQUATION, HUMAN CAPITAL, INCREASING RETURNS, INPUT PRICES, INTERMEDIATE INPUTS, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS, INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, MANUFACTURED EXPORTS, MANUFACTURING SECTOR, MARGINAL COST, MARKET ACCESS, MARKET DEMAND, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATION, MEASURE OF TRADE, MIDDLE EAST, NATIONAL ECONOMIES, NATIONAL ECONOMY, NATURAL RESOURCES, NORTH AFRICA, OPEN ECONOMIES, OPENNESS, PER CAPITA INCOMES, PRICE ELASTICITY, PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND, PRICE INDEX, PRIVATE SECTOR, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, SUBSTITUTES, SUPPLIER, TRADE COSTS, TRADE OPENNESS, TRADE VOLUMES, TRANSPORT COSTS, TURNOVER, VALUE OF IMPORTS, WORLD TRADE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/06/6858817/market-access-supplier-access-africas-manufactured-exports-analysis-role-geography-institutions http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8420
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