WHO EXPORTS HIGH-QUALITY MANUFACTURING PRODUCTS? SOME EMPIRICAL REGULARITIES FROM GREEK EXPORTING FIRMS
S. Kalyvitis (AUEB)
Abstract:
This chapter assesses the quality of Greek manufacturing exports and links the estimates with the labour structure of exporters. Export quality is estimated to have fallen by 1% per year on average for the period 1998-2010, but recovered in 2011 and 2012 when export quality displayed a cumulative rise of 25.7%, yielding a cumulative rise of 9.2% for the entire period 1998-2012. Linking the quality estimates at the product level with exporting firms shows that higher product quality is associated with exporters that have a higher share of their wage bill paid to skilled workers. This positive relationship stems from firms with higher skilled to unskilled employment ratios, rather than higher wage skill premia, and is more pronounced in large and rich destinations.