Search

Empirical analyses that rely on micro-level panel data have found that exporters are generally less pollutant than non-exporters. While alternative explanations have been proposed, firm-level data has not been used to examine the role of destination markets behind the relationship between exports and pollution. In this paper, we argue that because consumers in high-income countries have higher valuations for clean environments than consumers in developing countries, exporters targeting high-income countries are more likely to improve their environmental outcomes than exporters targeting destinations where valuations for the environment are not high. Using a panel of firm-level data from Chile we find support to this hypothesis. A 10 percentage point increase in the share of exports to high-income countries is associated with a reduction in CO2 pollution intensity of about 16%. The results have important implications for firms in developing countries aiming to target high-income markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Export diversification has been one of the major concerns for policymakers. In particular. those developing countries whose export structure is highly concentrated in a few primary products rather than diversified in a number of manufactures, must consider diversification policy essential in order to avoid economic problems such as resource abundance curse or the Dutch disease effect. Previous studies have hypothesized that trade liberalization through FTAs is one way to diversify export products; therefore, this paper empirically tests the hypothesis. The following analysis focuses on the Chilean experience since Chile has been highly praised for its successful export expansion and active involvement in trade liberalization. The OLS panel estimation with period fixed effect shows that Chile's FTAs have increased export diversity only in terms of product numbers, and the overall export structure has become even more concentrated during the liberalization process. In this paper, we suggest that Chile's originally highly concentrated export structure is the main reason for the concentrating, rather than diversifying, effect of the FTAs. Nevertheless, we extend our analysis to find that the diversification effect of FTAs is significant in the manufacturing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper integrates aspects of global value chain and sustainable rural livelihoods analyses in an exploration of the local impacts of agri-food globalization in Chile. In particular, it examines the evolution of the raspberry export sector in the context of Chile's non-traditional agricultural export boom, and considers its importance to smallholder growers and rural households in central Chile. The paper first outlines the geography and structural configuration of the global value chain for Chilean raspberries, and considers modes of governance and forms of coordination between key actors within the chain. Second, the terms and implications of smallholder grower participation in the value chain are explored in a discussion of access to key livelihoods assets. The paper concludes that institutional support to smallholders, even in the case of a crop that is widely seen to have a small-scale 'size bias', remains integral to their capacity to comply with required safety and quality standards and gain and retain market access via the value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares new forms of political economy based on export orientation in New Zealand and Chile and relates them to the evolution of the wine industries in those countries. The wine sector is seen as a key example of an export-driven agro-industry in both countries. The paper applies the new political economy to a comparative analysis of land, production and exports in the wine sectors of both Chile and New Zealand. The nature of firms in the wine sector in both countries is examined and some broad implications for development at the local scale introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a research project designed in part to better understand the competitive priorities (CPs) and key decision areas (KDAs) supporting manufacturing strategies in the Chilean wine industry and how these KDAs and CPs contribute to obtaining a competitive advantage. The paper also presents the relation of competitive priorities to recent export price and export performance, indicators associated with adequately meeting consumer demands. A brief summary is presented of a survey applied to 49 Chilean wineries. The results indicate that firms rank as their highest CPs both the production of high quality wine to meet final consumer demands, and the reliability of their supply of a high quality product to meet the demands of distributors. The results are consistent both with the characterisation of the Chilean wine industry as oriented to export markets and responsive to buyer preferences, and with other research indicating that product quality and product condition are the highest ranked attributes for Chilean wine purchases by US importers. Per-litre export prices and export growth rates are used to assess how well the emphasis on product quality translates into firm performance. Controlling for export volume, the evidence supports the hypothesis that firms putting a greater emphasis on product quality receive higher average prices. KDA rankings confirm that the industry's decision-making orientation is consistent with its emphasis on the competitive priorities of product quality and dependability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goals of this paper are to analyze the quantities and traded values in the international markets for Chilean agro-industrial products based on fruit and vegetables for the period 2002-2011, identify the main target markets for these exports and to determine their participation globally. One concludes that the share of the Chilean exports in the world agroindustry of fruit and vegetables is still discreet, particularly if the country wants to make real the slogan of "Chile as a Food Power". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper contributes to the literature that analyses the determinants and measurement of Technological Capabilities (TCs) with empirical evidence on Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Based on the World Bank''s Investment Climate database, the study covers firms from the manufacturing sector. We first construct a Capability Score to provide a preliminary measure of Technological Capabilities at the firm level. We then test it econometrically to explore the determinants of TCs and exports and evaluate their reciprocal relationship through a Two Stage Probit. Our results show that exports and TCs significantly and positively influence each other in some of these countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There has been a long and intensive debate within the scientific community about the role of international trade in the development of countries. During the last decades, the focus of attention has moved from the pure economic level to the environmental aspects of international trade. Establishing a simplified system of North–South trade for one reference period (2003), this paper attempts to test empirically the extent of potential asymmetries with regard to extracted material flows, and contrasts the results with the economic benefits from trade (in terms of value-added). The South is thereby represented by a selection of Latin American countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico), the North comprises one of their main commercial partners, the United States. At the methodological level, a multi-regional input–output analysis is used as the tool of investigation. Results generally support the hypothesis that the South was feeding the North's societal metabolism. South–North material exports were 1.6 times larger than North–South material exports, resulting in a net deficit for the South of 324 million tons. Moreover, material intensity of exported commodities from the South was twice as high as that from the North. It is worth highlighting, however, that part of the North-South hypothesis fails for the sample of countries since the larger part of the economic surplus has remained in the South, contrarily to what would have been expected. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper uses a broad multi-country dataset to describe the main stylized facts about export performance in the last four decades. First, transition probability matrices are computed to look at changes in the position of countries at the world distribution of the export to GDP ratio. It finds that transitions toward high export ratios have been mainly experienced by Asian countries, but also that some reformers, like Mexico and Chile, have been able to improve their position relative to other studied economies. African countries mainly sunk to the bottom part of the world distribution, although they constitute only half of the economies with relatively bad export performance. In the consideration of the structural factors that may play an important role for long-run transitions, the results suggest that more open economies and those with better institutions are more likely to move to high export ratios in the long-run. Second, the within-country experiences are analyzed for identifying episodes of export transitions. Using an event study methodology, a very weak association is found between export transitions and investment rate. In contrast, the results suggest that transitions are potentially driven by improvements in financial development. Finally, favorable terms of trade, increments in productivity, and reductions in exchange rate distortions are not found to be a catalyst for export transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analysis the change of Chile's regional and international strategy of insertion through bilateral trade agreements in the beginning of the 90s, after a generalized trade opening since the middle of the 70s. The bilateral trade agreements strategy was set up by the democratic governments as part of the direction of maintaining and deepening the unilateral trade liberalization undertaken by the dictatorship, enlarging exports and diversifying products and markets. Exports have a decisive role in Chile's economy, open and small. The 24 bilateral trade agreements already signed with different countries and regions (besides others under negotiation) can be explained by the exhaustion of the unilateral tariff reduction, today in 6% for the majority of products, in trade creation. Nevertheless, the implementation of a large and diversified net of bilateral trade agreements also have political, strategic and security interests regarding the neighbors and near countries. This strategy also gives Chile the choice of not taking part in regional blocks to guarantee its interests, which increases its ability to deal with different and important partners in the international level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the export-behavior of Chilean agribusiness and food processing firms and the relative importance of firm-specific and geographic characteristics in this behavior. Using firm level data and regional geographic indicators, a dynamic model was used to study the export decisions and the export intensity of three industries: processing fish, processing fruits and vegetables, and wine production. Results showed that determinants of exporting behavior vary among the three industries, except the effect of sunk costs, which strongly impacts the export decisions of all analyzed industries. This implies that firms with prior export experience will have higher probability of exporting in the future. Foreign ownership positively impacts the export decision of the two processing industries. Thus, firms belonging to these industries that wish to increase the probability of being an exporter should be encouraged to have a partnership with a foreign company or investor. The export intensity is positively influenced by foreign ownership in the fruit and vegetables processing and wine industries. As in the case of the export decision of firms, foreign participation helps increase the scale of exports. In general, firm-specific characteristics significantly impact the export behavior in Chilean agribusiness and processed food industries, while the contribution of geography attributes appears mixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chilean wine industry has achieved great success in terms of exports but this extraordinary performance of the industry is not guaranteed. This paper presents the results of a survey to Chilean small and medium wineries about their actual managerial practices. The findings indicate that Chilean wineries are following the right recipe for success in the wine industry but they may not be prepared to meet future challenges. To survive, wineries' managers will need to pay more attention to distribution, marketing, consumer behaviour and cost management while maintaining its actual efforts in production and viticulture technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]