Spatial Analysis of Factors Affecting Iran's Exports of the Food and Beverage Industry

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate in Economics, University of Tabriz

2 Associate Professor of Economics, University of Tabriz

3 Ph.D. Candidate in Economics, Islamic Azad University of Tabriz

Abstract

Nowadays, exports of food and beverages industries play an important role in providing the foreign-exchange gains for countries. Empirical studies related to exports show that the amount of firm`s exports not only depends on the size of the firm, human capital and labor productivity, but also it may be affected by the exports of neighboring provinces. So, the purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that affect the exports of food products and beverage industry using firm-level data of Iranian industrial firms and spatial Durbin Tobit model at 2007.The results of Spatial Durbin Model show that variables such as firm size, labor productivity and human capital have positive and significant effect on firm's exports. Also, significance of spatial lag coefficient of dependent variable (ρ) confirms the existence of spatial effects for studied provinces. The results of evaluating direct and indirect effects show those direct and indirect effects of human capital, labor productivity and firm size for each province and nearby provinces are positive and significant. These results indicate the existence of interstate spillovers.

Keywords

Main Subjects


  1. Alvarez, R. (2007). Explaining export success: Firm characteristics and spillover effects. World Development, 35(3), 377-393.
  2. Asgari, A., and Akbari, N. (2001). Spatial econometric methodology, theory and application. Journal of Isfahan University, 12, 92-122 (In Persian).
  3. Athukorala, P. C., and Sen, K. (1998). Processed food exports from developing countries: Patterns and determinants, Food Policy, 23, 1-109.
  4. Bernard, A. B., and Jensen, J. B. (1999). Exceptional exporter performance: Cause, effect, or both? Journal of International Economics, 47(1), 1-25.
  5. Briones, R. M. (2013). Market structure and distribution of benefits from agricultural exports: The case of the Philippine mango industry. Discussion Papers, Philippine Institute for Development Studies, DP 2013-16, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
  6. Central Bank of Iran (www.cbi.ir).
  7. Crozet, M., and Koenig, P. (2004). EU enlargement and the internal geography of countries. Journal of Comparative Economics, 32(2), 265–279.
  8. Farahbakhsh, N., and Norouzi, B. (2001). Analysis of production and export capacity of the food industry. Iranian Journal of Trade Studies (IJTS), 19, 175-196 (In Persian). 
  9. Fathi, Y. (2002).The analysis of comparative advantage for export diverse group of food industry. Agricultural Economics and Development, 38, 129-154 (In Persian).
  10. Gallup, J. L., Sachs J. D., and Mellinger, A. D. (1999). Geography and economic development. International Regional Science Review, 22, 179-232.
  11. Ghorbani, M. (2001). An introduction to economic geology of Iran. Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran. Tehran (In Persian).
  12. Glesjer, H., Jacquemin, A., and Petit, J. (1980). Exports in an imperfect competition framework: An analysis of 1446 exporters. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 94, 507-524.
  13. 13.    Greene, W. H. (2012). Econometric analysis7th edition, New York: Macmillan.
  14. Hagemejer, J. (2007). Factors driving the firm's decision to export. Firm-level evidence from Poland. MPRA Paper 17717University Library of Munich, Germany.
  15. Halpern, L., and Murakozy, B. (2009). Innovation, productivity and exports: The case of Hungary. Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences Working Paper, 1-21.
  16. Hanson, G. (1998). Regional adjustment to trade liberalization. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 28(4), 419- 444.
  17. Hill, R. C., Griffiths, W. E., and Lim, G. C. (2011). Principles of econometrics. Fourth Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
  18. Jeffee, S., and Henson, S. (2004). Standards and agro-food exports from developing countries: Rebalancing the debate. World BankPolicy Research Working Paper, http://econ.worldbank.org.
  19. Johanson, S. (2009). Market experiences and export decisions in heterogeneous firms. Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS). No. 196.
  20. Kakamu, K. (2009). Small sample properties and model choice in spatial models: A Bayesian approach. Far East Journal of Applied Mathematics, 34(1), 31–56.        
  21. Khalilian, S., and Farhadi, A. (2002). Factors affecting agricultural exports to Iran. Agricultural Economics and Development, 10(39), 71-84 (In Persian).
  22. Koenig, P., Mayneris, F., and S. Poncet (2010). Local export spillovers in France. European Economic Review, 54(4). 622-641.
  23. Kundu, A. (2013). Bi-directional relationships between exports and growth: A panel data approach. Journal of Economics and Development Studies, 1(1), 10-23.
  24. LeSage, J. P., and Pace, R. K. (2009). Introduction to spatial econometrics. Boca Raton, Taylor and Francis.
  25. Liu, X., and Shu, C. (2005). Determinants of export performance: Evidence from Chinese industries. Macroeconomics working paper, No. 213, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
  26. Lotfi, M. (1999). The successful export of services. Institute for Trade Studies and ResearchTehran (In Persian).
  27. Martincus, V. C. (2011). Spatial effects of trade policy: Evidence from Brazil. Journal of Regional Science, 50(2), 541–569.
  28. Mohammadzadeh, P., and Sojoodi, S. (2011). The determinants of export performance in manufacturing firms of Iran by using Tobit and Heckman models. Journal of Executive Management, 3(6), 127-150 (In Persian).
  29. Pourebadollahan Covich, M., and Aminizadeh, P. (2010). The impact of human capital on Iranian medium and large manufacturing companies' Export. Journal of Economics and Modeling, 1(3), 143-162 (in Persian).
  30. Pourebadollahan Covich, M., and Hemmati, M. (2015). Evaluating the geographical position of firm and its impact on the export decision of Iranian industrial firmsQuarterly Journal of Applied Theories of Economics, 2(1), 121-142 (In Persian).
  31. Pourebadollahan Covich, M., Asgharpour, H., Fallahi, F., and Abdi, H. (2011). The impact of human capital accumulation on manufacturing industries' export at Iranian provinces level.  Journal of Economic Policies (Nameh-ye-Mofid), 87, 111-130 (In Persian).
  32. Pourebadollahan Covich, M., Asgharpur H., Fallahi F., and Abdi H. (2012). The impact of human capital on manufacturing industries' export. Journal of Knowledge and Development, 19(3), 189-216 (In Persian).
  33. Pourebadollahan Covich, M., Asgharpur, H., Fallahi, F., and Abdi, H. (2009). The impact of human capital on the export of chemical and fundamental metal products in Iran: Evidence from industry subdivisions. Journal of Economic Policy, 1(2), 99-122 (In Persian).
  34. Rahmanseresht, H., and Sanobar, N. (2004). Relationship between the product-market strategies and the performances of non-government Iranian non-oil exporters between 1994 to 1997. Journal of Management Studies in Development and Evolution, 10, 69-98 (In Persian).
  35. Seya, H., Tsutsumi, M., and Yamagata, Y. (2012). Income convergence in Japan: A Bayesian spatial Durbin model approach. Economic Modeling, 29(1), 60-71.
  36. Shujaat, A. (2012). Causality between exports and economic growth: Investigating suitable trade policy for Pakistan. Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics, 5(10), 91-98.
  37. Tobin, J. (1958). Estimation of relationships for limited dependent variables. Econometrica, 26, 24-36.
  38. Todo, Y. (2009). Quantitative evaluation of determinants of export and FDI: Firm-level evidence from Japan. RIETI Discussion Paper, No. 09-E-19, May 2009.
  39. Wagner, J. (1995). Exports, firm size and firm dynamics. Small Business Economics, 7(1), 29-39.
  40. Wei, S. J. (2000). Natural openness and good government. NBER Working Paper, No 7765, Cambridge, MA.
  41. Wooldridge, J. (2002). Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. MIT Press.