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The Determinants of Export Performance of Firms in Selected MENA Countries: Comparison with CEE Countries, Israel and Turkey


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Sensitivity analysis: fractional logit estimations for aggregate groups of countries

All countriesMENACEE (all)
VARIABLES123456789
Iprod-0.082

p<0.01

-0.083

p<0.01

0.011-0.018-0.031

p<0.05

-0.017-0.061

p<0.01

-0.041

p<0.05

0.131

p<0.01

(0.009)(0.010)(0.018)(0.012)(0.013)(0.026)(0.014)(0.017)(0.039)
age0.008

p<0.01

0.007

p<0.01

-0.006

p<0.01

-0.003-0.001-0.006

p<0.01

0.006

p<0.1

0.005-0.006
(0.002)(0.002)(0.002)(0.002)(0.002)(0.002)(0.003)(0.004)(0.005)
R_D0.653

p<0.01

0.680

p<0.01

0.479

p<0.01

0.692

p<0.01

0.671

p<0.01

0.588

p<0.01

0.743

p<0.01

0.712

p<0.01

0.441

p<0.01

(0.074)(0.081)(0.059)(0.097)(0.102)(0.089)(0.115)(0.132)(0.161)
luni-0.073

p<0.01

-0.070

p<0.01

0.003-0.023

p<0.05

-0.037

p<0.01

0.029

p<0.1

-0.120

p<0.01

-0.088

p<0.01

0.008
(0.009)(0.010)(0.010)(0.011)(0.012)(0.016)(0.015)(0.017)(0.023)
Isize0.270

p<0.01

0.220

p<0.01

0.361

p<0.01

0.152

p<0.01

0.228

p<0.01

0.354

p<0.01

0.361

p<0.01

0.255

p<0.01

0.359

p<0.01

(0.020)(0.022)(0.018)(0.024)(0.026)(0.026)(0.032)(0.037)(0.045)
fo0.922

p<0.01

0.905

p<0.01

0.817

p<0.01

0.589

p<0.01

0.561

p<0.01

0.841

p<0.01

1.201

p<0.01

1.170

p<0.01

0.980

p<0.01

(0.089)(0.098)(0.067)(0.116)(0.122)(0.101)(0.139)(0.159)(0.195)
folicences0.401

p<0.01

0.495

p<0.01

0.295

p<0.01

0.458

p<0.01

0.625

p<0.01

0.255

p<0.01

0.484

p<0.01

0.567

p<0.01

0.610

p<0.01

(0.071)(0.079)(0.060)(0.099)(0.105)(0.096)(0.108)(0.123)(0.151)
share_gov-0.013

p<0.01

-0.011

p<0.01

-0.005-0.012

p<0.1

-0.011-0.004-0.009

p<0.05

-0.008

p<0.1

-0.004
(0.003)(0.003)(0.003)(0.006)(0.007)(0.006)(0.004)(0.005)(0.006)
corruption0.047

p<0.01

0.020-0.023-0.022-0.045

p<0.05

-0.038-0.036-0.0290.068

p<0.1

(0.015)(0.017)(0.017)(0.020)(0.021)(0.024)(0.025)(0.029)(0.037)
Constant-2.053

p<0.01

-1.285

p<0.01

18.510

p<0.01

-1.612

p<0.01

-1.385

p<0.01

18.070

p<0.01

-2.899

p<0.01

-2.530

p<0.01

-4.364

p<0.01

(0.134)(0.158)(0.575)(0.171)(0.194)(0.230)(0.214)(0.263)(0.664)
Sectoral effectsNoYesYesNoYesYesNoYesYes
Country effectNoNoYesNoNoYesNoNoYes
Observations16,19216,19216,1925,4825,4825,48210,27410,27410,274

Results of probit estimations for individual MENA countries

EgyptTurkeyIsraelTunisiaMorocco
VARIABLES12345678910
Iprod0.144***0.158***0.0210.02120.1400.139-0.089*-0.009-0.090-0.059
(0.026)(0.027)(0.025)(0.0254)(0.088)(0.091)(0.049)(0.055)(0.055)(0.058)
age0.0030.006**0.013***0.0104**0.013***0.014***-0.009**-0.008**-0.003-0.000
(0.002)(0.002)(0.004)(0.00454)(0.004)(0.005)(0.004)(0.004)(0.005)(0.005)
R_D0.512***0.539***0.0370.02051.793***1.807***0.699***0.653***0.0230.135
(0.131)(0.138)(0.144)(0.145)(0.241)(0.251)(0.161)(0.163)(0.221)(0.233)
luni0.0200.042**0.0250.02650.051*0.051*-0.008-0.003-0.0210.001
(0.018)(0.020)(0.020)(0.0202)(0.027)(0.028)(0.031)(0.032)(0.036)(0.039)
Isize0.389***0.392***0.369***0.342***0.161**0.165**0.311***0.261***0.344***0.315***
(0.027)(0.028)(0.047)(0.0499)(0.063)(0.066)(0.048)(0.050)(0.067)(0.071)
fo0.254**0.212*Omitted0.891**0.920**0.752***0.746***0.3000.300
(0.120)(0.123)(0.390)(0.400)(0.181)(0.185)(0.230)(0.237)
folicences0.680***0.713***0.0770.0163-0.325-0.3760.1450.2150.1170.209
(0.126)(0.130)(0.116)(0.118)(0.322)(0.327)(0.245)(0.252)(0.217)(0.231)
share_gov-0.009*-0.009*OmittedOmittedOmitted-0.003-0.0020.0430.053
(0.005)(0.005)(0.009)(0.009)(0.070)(0.069)
corruption0.043*0.043*0.078*0.04900.0500.063-0.0100.001-0.0150.028
(0.025)(0.026)(0.041)(0.0428)(0.113)(0.119)(0.042)(0.042)(0.052)(0.057)
Constant-4.335***-4.697***-1.708***-2.095***-3.704***-3.698***-0.068-0.902-0.636-1.501*
(0.333)(0.353)(0.351)(0.453)(1.222)(1.285)(0.576)(0.638)(0.755)(0.808)
Sectoral effectsNoYesNoYesNoYesNoYesNoYes
Observations2,1772,177719719410410576576319319
Log likelihood-805.1-770.3-425.6-413.0-172.2-164.7-330.4-318.1-167.5-151.7
Pseudo R20.2320.2660.1420.1670.3000.3310.1720.2030.1130.197

Results of probit estimations for the entire sample of countries, MENA countries and all CEE countries

All countriesMENA-8All CEE
VARIABLES(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)
Iprod-0.012

p<0.01

0.0414

p<0.01

0.070

p<0.01

0.049

p<0.01

0.044

p<0.01

0.053-0.025

p<0.01

0.039

p<0.01

0.091

p<0.01

(0.004)(0.009)(0.020)(0.007)(0.013)(0.037)(0.006)(0.012)(0.021)
age0.007

p<0.01

0.002

p<0.05

0.0020.0020.0020.0030.008

p<0.01

0.0010.000
(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)
R_D0.599

p<0.01

0.492

p<0.01

0.439

p<0.01

0.631

p<0.01

0.502

p<0.01

0.509

p<0.01

0.620

p<0.01

0.508

p<0.01

0.415

p<0.01

(0.033)(0.035)(0.057)(0.058)(0.060)(0.147)(0.042)(0.045)(0.049)
luni-0.027

p<0.01

0.021

p<0.01

0.031

p<0.01

-0.0060.024

p<0.01

0.032

p<0.01

-0.044

p<0.01

0.017

p<0.05

0.030

p<0.01

(0.005)(0.005)(0.006)(0.007)(0.008)(0.009)(0.006)(0.007)(0.009)
Isize0.253

p<0.01

0.286

p<0.01

0.265

p<0.01

0.308

p<0.01

0.333

p<0.01

0.306

p<0.01

0.203

p<0.01

0.255

p<0.01

0.242

p<0.01

(0.009)(0.010)(0.025)(0.015)(0.016)(0.040)(0.013)(0.014)(0.025)
fo0.596

p<0.01

0.495

p<0.01

0.469

p<0.01

0.452

p<0.01

0.487

p<0.01

0.476

p<0.01

0.707

p<0.01

0.509

p<0.01

0.466

p<0.01

(0.040)(0.043)(0.065)(0.070)(0.074)(0.150)(0.051)(0.054)(0.057)
folicences0.330

p<0.01

0.267

p<0.01

0.250

p<0.01

0.431

p<0.01

0.245

p<0.01

0.2440.316

p<0.01

0.285

p<0.01

0.258

p<0.01

(0.033)(0.035)(0.062)(0.060)(0.063)(0.161)(0.041)(0.043)(0.057)
share_gov-0.007

p<0.01

-0.005

p<0.05

-0.004

p<0.05

-0.006-0.005-0.004-0.005

p<0.05

-0.004

p<0.1

-0.003
(0.002)(0.002)(0.002)(0.004)(0.004)(0.003)(0.002)(0.002)(0.002)
corruption-0.0080.0120.018

p<0.1

-0.043

p<0.01

0.0190.016-0.0050.0100.021
(0.008)(0.009)(0.011)(0.012)(0.014)(0.010)(0.011)(0.012)(0.016)
Constant-1.582

p<0.01

-2.270

p<0.01

-2.474

p<0.01

-2.217

p<0.01

-2.451

p<0.01

-2.419

p<0.01

-1.333

p<0.01

-2.483

p<0.01

-2.593

p<0.01

(0.066)(0.133)(0.279)(0.108)(0.185)(0.561)(0.088)(0.203)(0.238)
Country effectsNoYesYesNoYesYesNoYesYes
Sectoral effectsNoNoYesNoNoYesNoNoYes
Observations16,11316,11316,1135,4535,4535,45310,23710,23710,237
Log likelihood-7846-7078-6730-2925-2682-2617-4605-4223-3924
Pseudo R20.1260.2110.2500.1510.2210.2400.1150.1890.246

Results of probit estimations for CEE members of the EU, CEE non-members of the EU and for six MENA countries (Turkey and Israel excluded)

CEE EU membersCEE non-EU membersSix MENA countries
VARIABLES(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)
lprod0.0090.0270.088

p<0.01,

-0.0040.045

p<0.01,

0.089

p<0.01,

0.074

p<0.01,

0.055

p<0.01,

0.074

p<0.01,

(0.013)(0.021)(0.027)(0.007)(0.015)(0.028)(0.008)(0.017)(0.044)
age-0.002-0.003-0.0040.009

p<0.01,

0.003

p<0.01,

0.002

p<0.01,

0.0010.0000.001
(0.002)(0.003)(0.004)(0.001)(0.002)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.002)
R_D0.607

p<0.01,

0.561

p<0.01,

0.444

p<0.01,

0.588

p<0.01,

0.484

p<0.01,

0.406

p<0.01,

0.601

p<0.01,

0.456

p<0.01,

0.450

p<0.01,

(0.078)(0.080)(0.113)(0.051)(0.054)(0.060)(0.068)(0.071)(0.070)
luni0.0110.020

p<0.01,

0.034

p<0.01,

-0.0520.017

p<0.01,

0.030

p<0.05,

0.0020.0120.026

p<0.05,

(0.010)(0.010)(0.010)(0.008)(0.010)(0.014)(0.009)(0.010)(0.013)
lsize0.237

p<0.01,

0.2480.234

p<0.01,

0.204

p<0.01,

0.258

p<0.01,

0.247

p<0.01,

0.304

p<0.01,

0.342

p<0.01,

0.321

p<0.01,

(0.024)(0.025)(0.027)(0.015)(0.016)(0.034)(0.017)(0.018)(0.043)
fo0.579

p<0.01,

0.550

p<0.01,

0.512

p<0.01,

0.640

p<0.01,

0.482

p<0.01,

0.445

p<0.01,

0.435

p<0.01,

0.378

p<0.01,

0.347

p<0.01,

(0.087)(0.088)(0.074)(0.064)(0.068)(0.079)(0.076)(0.079)(0.128)
folicences0.173

p<0.05,

0.180

p<0.05,

0.1160.359

p<0.01,

0.325

p<0.01,

0.303

p<0.01,

0.363

p<0.01,

0.380

p<0.01,

0.411

p<0.01,

(0.076)(0.078)(0.081)(0.049)(0.052)(0.073)(0.078)(0.079)(0.159)
share_gov-0.016

p<0.05,

-0.014

p<0.05,

-0.016

p<0.05,

-0.003-0.002-0.002-0.007-0.007-0.006

p<0.01,

(0.007)(0.007)(0.007)(0.002)(0.002)(0.002)(0.004)(0.004)(0.002)
corruption-0.054

p<0.01,

-0.022-0.0120.0200.0220.032

p<0.01,

-0.028

p<0.01,

0.0100.013
(0.020)(0.022)(0.016)(0.013)(0.014)(0.019)(0.015)(0.016)(0.013)
Constant-1.354

p<0.01,

-1.851

p<0.01,

-2.160

p<0.01,

-1.753

p<0.01,

-2.610

p<0.01,

-2.648

p<0.01,

-2.625

p<0.01,

-2.533

p<0.01,

-2.695

p<0.01,

(0.169)(0.277)(0.307)(0.110)(0.241)(0.325)(0.124)(0.222)(0.727)
Country effectsNoYesYesNoYesYesNoYesYes
Sectoral effectsNoNoYesNoNoYesNoNoYes
Observations2,4722,4722,4727,7657,7657,7654,2774,2774,277
Log likelihood-1404-1371-1161-3083-2845-2721-2171-2033-1974
Pseudo R20.1070.1280.2610.1160.1840.2200.1530.2060.230

Number of observations (firms) in the BEEPS V database

CountryNo. of observations
Albania360
Armenia360
Azerbaijan390
Belarus360
Bosnia-Herzegovina360
Bulgaria293
Croatia360
Czech Republic254
Djibouti266
Egypt2,897
Estonia273
FYR Macedonia360
Georgia360
Hungary310
Israel483
Jordan573
Kazakhstan600
Kosovo202
Kyrgyzstan270
Latvia336
Lebanon561
Lithuania270
Moldova360
Mongolia360
Montenegro150
Morocco407
Poland542
Romania540
Russia4,220
Serbia360
Slovak Republic268
Slovenia270
Tajikistan359
Tunisia592
Turkey1,344
Ukraine1,002
Uzbekistan390
West Bank and Gaza434
Yemen353
Total22,449

Correlation table for variables used in the empirical study for the whole sample of 22,449 observations

ageR_Dlunilsizefofolice~sshare_~v corrup~n
age1.000
R_D0.0661.000
Iuni-0.0620.0621.000
Isize0.2580.1850.1561.000
fo0.0060.0820.0470.1801.000
folicences0.0210.1500.0460.1640.1281.000
share_gov0.0890.0070.0190.1140.0180.0061.000
corruption0.0690.0540.0330.019-0.001-0.006-0.048 1.000

Description of variables used in the empirical study

VariableDescription
export (export status)Dependent binary variable, which takes the value of 1 if the establishment is exporting (directly or indirectly) at least 1% of its sales, and 0 otherwise
Iprod (level of productivity)Logarithm of productivity expressed as the total amount of annual sales per full-time employee
age (age of firm)Number of years since the start of operation
R_D (R&D status)Binary variable, which takes value of 1 if the establishment was spending money on R&D in the last three years, and 0 otherwise
luni (% of university graduates) IsizeLogarithm for the percentage of employees at the end of the fiscal year with a university degree
lsize (number of employees)Logarithm for the number of permanent, full-time employees in this firm at the end of the last fiscal year
fo (foreign ownership status)Binary variable, which takes the value of 1 if its shares are owned by private foreign individuals, companies or organizations, and 0 otherwise
foIicences (foreign ownership status)Binary variable, which takes the value of 1 if the establishment uses technology licensed from a foreign-owned company, and 0 otherwise
multi

The role of product mix for exporters is analysed by Mayer, Melitz and Ottaviano (2014). This variable is only used in the robustness test in the Appendix.

(multi-products measure)
100 minus the share of the main product in total sales. This variable measures whether the firm is producing many (multiple) products (0 means that the main product represents 100% of supply)
share_gov (percent of state ownership)The percentage of a firm owned by the state/government
corruption (perception of corruption)Corruption: its perception as an obstacle to current operations of the establishment (0 stands for no obstacles and 4 for a very serious obstacle)

Summary statistics for variables used in the empirical study for the whole sample of 22,449 observations

VariableObservationsMeanStd. dev.Min.Max.
age22,22016.26113.5910190
R_D22,2600.1090.31201
uni21,27132.90830.9030100
size22,27476.287338.188121,000
fo22,4490.0850.27901
folicences22,2200.1310.33701
share_gov22,1810.7667.115099
corruption21,5881.4561.50804

Sensitivity analysis: probit estimations with additional “multi” variable for aggregate groups of countries

AllMENACEE (all)
VARIABLES123456789
Iprod-0.013

p<0.01

0.043

p<0.01

0.073

p<0.01

0.046

p<0.01

0.044

p<0.01

0.054-0.025

p<0.01

0.041

p<0.01

0.095

p<0.01

(0.004)(0.009)(0.019)(0.008)(0.014)(0.037)(0.006)(0.012)(0.020)
age0.007

p<0.01

0.002

p<0.1

0.0010.0020.0020.0020.008

p<0.01

0.0010.000
(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.002)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)
R_D0.597

p<0.01

0.493

p<0.01

0.437

p<0.01

0.617

p<0.01

0.485

p<0.01

0.488

p<0.01

0.604

p<0.01

0.506

p<0.01

0.410

p<0.01

(0.034)(0.036)(0.057)(0.059)(0.061)(0.150)(0.043)(0.045)(0.050)
luni-0.028

p<0.01

0.021

p<0.01

0.031

p<0.01

-0.0060.023

p<0.01

0.031

p<0.01

-0.044

p<0.01

0.018

p<0.05

0.031

p<0.01

(0.005)(0.005)(0.006)(0.007)(0.008)(0.009)(0.006)(0.007)(0.009)
Isize0.258

p<0.01

0.291

p<0.01

0.270

p<0.01

0.314

p<0.01

0.340

p<0.01

0.312

p<0.01

0.206

p<0.01

0.260

p<0.01

0.248

p<0.01

(0.009)(0.010)(0.025)(0.015)(0.016)(0.037)(0.013)(0.013)(0.025)
fo0.586

p<0.01

0.481

p<0.01

0.455

p<0.01

0.459

p<0.01

0.487

p<0.01

0.478

p<0.01

0.692

p<0.01

0.485

p<0.01

0.441

p<0.01

(0.041)(0.043)(0.064)(0.071)(0.075)(0.161)(0.051)(0.054)(0.048)
folicences0.321

p<0.01

0.254

p<0.01

0.237

p<0.01

0.419

p<0.01

0.236

p<0.01

0.2340.297

p<0.01

0.260

p<0.01

0.233

p<0.01

(0.033)(0.035)(0.059)(0.060)(0.064)(0.157)(0.042)(0.044)(0.049)
multi0.001

p<0.01

0.0010.0010.003

p<0.01

0.004

p<0.01

0.004

p<0.01

0.002

p<0.01

-0.001-0.001
(0.0005)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)(0.001)
share_gov-0.008

p<0.01

-0.005

p<0.01

-0.004

p<0.01

-0.006

p<0.1

-0.005-0.004-0.005

p<0.01

-0.004

p<0.05

-0.003

p<0.1

(0.002)(0.002)(0.001)(0.004)(0.004)(0.003)(0.002)(0.002)(0.002)
corruption-0.0090.0130.018

p<0.1

-0.047

p<0.01

0.0160.012-0.0020.0150.026

p<0.05

(0.008)(0.009)(0.009)(0.012)(0.015)(0.013)(0.011)(0.012)(0.013)
Constant-1.592

p<0.01

-2.317

p<0.01

-2.543

p<0.01

-2.218

p<0.01

-2.536

p<0.01

-2.526

p<0.01

-1.360

p<0.01

-2.524

p<0.01

-2.612

p<0.01

(0.067)(0.137)(0.272)(0.109)(0.190)(0.561)(0.089)(0.208)(0.227)
Country effectsNoYesYesNoYesYesNoYesYes
Sectoral effectsNoNoYesNoNoYesNoNoYes
Observations15,74115,74115,7415,3735,3735,37310,00110,00110,001
Log likelihood-7682-6928-6580-2876-2633-2565-4523-4146-3851
Pseudo R20.1260.2120.2520.1530.2240.2440.1150.1880.246