Indirect Trade and Direct Trade: Evidence from Japanese firm transaction data

本稿は、日本の企業間取引データを利用して、直接貿易（輸出入）と間接貿易、及びこれら貿易の企業業績との関係につき、特に地方経済の視点を入れつつ観測事実を提示するものである。主な発見事項として、1）地方に立地する企業は、大都市経済圏に立地する企業よりも規模が小さく、規模の効果を排除した上でもなお輸出入の確率が低い、2）地方においても、間接・直接貿易は、企業数、雇用者数、売上高、付加価値の観点で地方経済の40〜70%を占める、3）地方における間接輸出企業は、直接輸出を始める傾向があり、このことは輸出手続きや顧客開拓、海外市場の情報などにおける学習効果を示唆しているが、輸入については同様な事象は見られない、4）直接輸出を開始した企業、直接輸入を開始した企業、間接輸出を開始した企業、間接輸入を開始した企業、いずれもより高い企業成長を示し、その規模は直接輸出・輸入の方が間接輸出・輸入よりも高く、大都市圏よりも地方の方が高い。

This paper attempts to establish stylized facts on direct and indirect trade and its impact on firm performance using firm transaction data of Japanese firms, with the special goal of shedding light on regional aspects and indirect exports/imports. The major findings are: 1) firms in regional areas are smaller in size than those in metropolitan areas, and firms in regional areas are less likely to participate in export or import, even after controlling for firm size; 2) direct and indirect exports and imports in terms of the number of firms, employees, sales values, and value-added represent 40%-70% of the regional economies; 3) indirect exporters in regional areas are likely to become direct exporters, which suggests the effects of learning in terms of procedures for conducting exporting, searching for customers, and gaining information on foreign markets, which is not the case for indirect importers; and 4) both newly started direct export/import firms and newly started indirect export/import firms tend to grow faster. In addition, the size of expansion is greater for direct export/import firms than for indirect ones, and is greater for firms in regional areas compared to metropolitan areas.

Published: Ito, Tadashi, and Yukiko Umeno Saito, 2021. "Indirect trade and direct trade: Evidence from Japanese firm transaction data," The World Economy, Vol. 44(2), pp. 444-461.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/twec.12997