Exporting, Technical Efficiency and Product Quality: An Empirical Analysis of the Agricultural Sector in the Mediterranean Countries *

摘要

This paper investigates the association between exporting and agricultural performance in terms of production efficiency and product quality. We test for the learning-by-exporting and self selection effects in a panel of advanced and developing Mediterranean countries involved in global market liberalisation. Product quality measures are inferred from trade data using a discrete choice demand model, and technical efficiency scores are appraised using a stochastic production frontier approach. Based on joint estimation of the performance equations and a dynamic export probit decision, the empirical results lend strong support to the self-selection hypothesis. Exporting appears to help quality upgrading that encourages more efficient use of resources.