The Performance of New Zealand Exporters: Some Firm-Level Evidence

Export performance is both an indicator of, and a factor in, New Zealand's economic success. In an increasingly globalised environment, the ability to reach and supply international markets is a clear measure of firm performance. But how much do we know about the practices and performance of New Zealand's exporters?

This presentation summarises recent research investigating New Zealand merchandise trade performance from a micro perspective. Such an approach has been made possible by the recent availability of the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), a unique New Zealand dataset combining firm-level administrative data from IRD, Customs and others, and constructed by Statistics New Zealand as part of the IBULDD project. Because of the incredible research potential of the LBD, some time will be spent discussing the general properties of the data.

The presentation will conclude with a brief outline of planned work including understanding the impact of international engagement on firm performance, the effects of government policy targetting exporting, and migrant-trade linkages.