Share:


Small is beautiful and important: economies and firms trading in digital services

Abstract

Although many firms operate on global digital platforms, small countries and firms also play an essential role at the national level, especially during crises and the slowdown in globalization. This research investigates trade patterns in digital services at the country and firm level and identifies challenges in this area in providing new information and tools to startup mentors and policymakers, who need more evidence for national authorities to develop mentorship and digital programmes. The study also contributes to transaction cost theory, explaining how it is possible to reduce transaction costs. The methodology involves using quantitative and experimental methods, logistic regression for firms and correspondence analysis for countries. The WTO dataset was used to visualise trade in services data and to interpret clusters of digitalised countries. Interestingly, Estonia stands apart from other post-socialist countries in terms of digital services exports, being among smaller countries and hosting the highest concentration of startups per capita. The firmlevel analysis revealed that firms trading in digital services differ from others – being smaller, more focused on exports and more often controlled by non-residents. The study encourages investments in small countries and small firms that trade successfully in digital services.

Keyword : trade in services, digital services, data visualisation, correspondence analysis, cross-border, mode of supply, international trade, ICT-sector firms, firm-level data, WTO

How to Cite
Kerner, R., & Kitsing, M. (2023). Small is beautiful and important: economies and firms trading in digital services . Journal of Business Economics and Management, 24(1), 93–111. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2023.18585
Published in Issue
Feb 27, 2023
Abstract Views
527
PDF Downloads
515
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Aaby, N., & Slater, S. F. (1989). Management influences on export performance: A review of the empirical literature 1978–1988. International Marketing Review, 6(4). https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000001516

Ambroziak, A. A., & Stefaniak, J. (2022). The position of China in trade in services within the European Union. OeconomiA Copernicana, 13(2), 335–354. https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.2022.010

Antràs, P., & Gortari, A. (2020). On the geography of global value chains. Econometrica, 88(4), 1553–1598. https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA15362

Ariu, A. (2016). Services versus goods trade: A firm-level comparison. Review of World Economics, 152(1), 19–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-015-0230-0

Barnard, C. I. (1938). The economy of incentives. In J. M. Shafritz, J. S. Ott, & S. J. Yong (Eds.). (2005). Classics of organization theory (pp. 93–102). Tomson Wadsworth.

Benkovskis, K., Masso, J., Tkacevs, O., Vahter, P., & Yashiro, N. (2019). Export and productivity in global value chains: Comparative evidence from Latvia and Estonia. Review of World Economics, 1–21.

Bernard, A. B., & Jensen, J. B. (1999). Exceptional exporter performance: Cause, effect, or both? Journal of International Economics, 47(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1996(98)00027-0

Bernard, A. B., & Wagner, J. (1997). Exports and success in German manufacturing. Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 133(1), 134–157. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02707680

Bhattacharya, R., Patnaik, I., & Shah, A. (2012). Export versus FDI in services. The World Economy, 35(1), 61–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2011.01385.x

Bilgiç, E. (2021). Do impacts of factors affecting goods trade diffirentiate for service trade? The Case of Turkey. Kafkas Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 12(24), 1056–1078. https://doi.org/10.36543/kauiibfd.2021.043

Borchsenius, V., Malchow-Møller, N., Munch, J. R., & Skaksen, J. R. (2010). International trade in services: Evidence from Danish micro data. Nationaløkonomisk Tidsskrift, 148(1), 86–107.

Cernat, L. (2016). Toward “Trade policy analysis 2.0”: From national comparative advantage to firm-level trade data. In G. Wignaraja (Ed.), Production networks and enterprises in East Asia (pp. 21–31). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55498-1_2

Cernat, L. (2021). We need to talk trade and technology! ECIPE Policy Brief.

Cernat, L., & Kutlina-Dimitrova, Z. (2014). Thinking in a box: A “mode 5” approach to service trade. Journal of World Trade, 48(6), 1109–1126. https://doi.org/10.54648/TRAD2014039

Ciriani, S., & Perin, P. (2017). Trends in global ICT trade. Communications & Strategies, 107, 17–47, 203. ProQuest One Business.

Duan, H., Bao, Q., Tian, K., Wang, S., Yang, C., & Cai, Z. (2021). The hit of the novel coronavirus outbreak to China’s economy. China Economic Review, 67, 101606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2021.101606

E-Estonia. (2022). Facts & figures. https://e-estonia.com/facts-and-figures/

Estonia. (2018). Digital agenda 2020 for Estonia. Government of Estonia. https://www.mkm.ee/sites/default/files/digitalagenda2020_final_final.pdf

European Commission. (2018). What does “mode of supply” for services mean? https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/faqs/what-does-mode-supply-services-mean

European Commission. (2019). Regulation 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics. Brussels.

European Commission. (2020). Shaping Europe’s digital future. https://op.europa.eu/publication/manifestation_identifier/PUB_KK0320102ENN

Eurostat. (2008). NACE rev. 2. Office for official publications of the European Communities. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/ks-ra-07-015

Foss, N. J., & Klein, P. G. (2005). The theory of the firm and its critics: A stocktaking and assessment (CORI Working Paper No. 2005-03). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.695484

Greenacre, M., & Hastie, T. (1987). The geometric interpretation of correspondence analysis. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 82(398), 437–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1987.10478446

Greenacre, M. J. (1993). Biplots in correspondence analysis. Journal of Applied Statistics, 20(2), 251–269. https://doi.org/10.1080/02664769300000021

Henig, D., & Guildea, A. (2021). Services trade needs to be taken as seriously as goods trade. ECIPE. https://ecipe.org/publications/services-trade-needs-to-be-taken-seriously/

Hornok, C., & Koren, M. (2017). Winners and losers of globalization: Sixteen challenges for measurement and theory. In Economics without borders: Economic research for European policy challenges (pp. 238–273). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316636404.008

International Monetary Fund. (2009). Balance of payments and international investment position manual (6th ed). International Monetary Fund.

Jungmittag, A., & Welfens, P. J. (2009). Liberalization of EU telecommunications and trade: Theory, gravity equation analysis and policy implications. International Economics and Economic Policy, 6(1), 23–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10368-009-0125-4

Kelle, M., & Kleinert, J. (2010). German firms in service trade (Economics Working Paper, No. 2010-03). https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/30186/1/621189480.pdf

Kerner, R. (2022). Japanese trade in services and FDI in Europe: Evidence from Estonia. In Asian trade and investment in Europe (pp. 17–33). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003274933-3

Kersan Skabic, I. (2020). Trade in services in the European Union. European Integration Studies, 14, 156–171. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.1.14.25587

Kitsing, M. (2021). The political economy of digital ecosystems: Scenario planning for alternative futures. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Political-Economy-of-Digital-Ecosystems-Scenario-Planning-for-Alternative/Kitsing/p/book/9780367653972

Lee, M., & Goldman, M. (2020). Understanding and measuring cross-border digital trade (Cambridge trust for new thinking in economics). Cambridge Econometrics. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/885174/Understanding-and-measuring-cross-border-digital-trade.pdf

Lemma, A. F. (2021). Promoting exports of ICT goods and services from Bangladesh.

Li, X., Clemes, M. D., & Hu, B. (2020). Fostering China’s expanding trade in services. International Journal of Services, Economics and Management, 11(4), 371–389. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSEM.2020.111940

Melitz, M. J. (2003). The impact of trade on intra‐industry reallocations and aggregate industry productivity. Econometrica, 71(6), 1695–1725. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0262.00467

Nooteboom, B. (1993). Firm size effects on transaction costs. Small Business Economics, 5(4), 283–295. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01516249

OECD. (2021). Research agenda for guidance notes of task team on ITS.

Palacio, A. M. (2018). A new growth paradigm: The services economy in the Pacific Alliance. https://www.academia.edu/39889851/A_New_Growth_Paradigm_The_Services_Economy_in_the_Pacific_Alliance

Riordan, M. H., & Williamson, O. E. (1985). Asset specificity and economic organization. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 3(4), 365–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-7187(85)90030-X

Ronen, E. (2021). ICT services exports and labour demand: A global perspective and the case of Israel. In A. Fetsi, U. Bardak, & F. Rosso (Eds.), Changing skills for a changing world: Understanding skills demand in EU neighbouring countries. European Training Foundation. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3791966

Rueda-Cantuche, J. M., Kerner, R., Cernat, L., & Ritola, V. (2016). Trade in services by GATS modes of supply: Statistical concepts and first EU estimates. Chief Economist Note, 3, 1–27.

Sampson, G. P., & Snape, R. H. (1985). Identifying the issues in trade in services. The World Economy, 8(2), 171–182. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.1985.tb00421.x

Software Tibco. (2022). What is correspondence analysis? https://www.tibco.com/reference-center/what-is-correspondence-analysis#:~:text=Correspondence%20analysis%2C%20also%20called%20reciprocal,two%20or%20more%20data%20points

StataCorp LLC. (2021). Stata multivariate statistics reference manual, Rev 17. Stata Press.

Statistics Canada. (2018). Trade in services by mode of supply: Definitions, collection strategies and preliminary results. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/13-605-x/2018001/article/54966-eng.htm

Statistics Estonia. (n.d.). VKT10: Exports and imports of services by economic activity of economic unit (quarterly). https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat/majandus__valiskaubandus__teenuste_valiskaubandus/VKT10

Statistics Estonia. (2022). Requests for researchers. Retrieved January, 2022, from https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/request-statistics/use-confidential-data-scientific-purposes

Tajoli, L., Airoldi, F., & Piccardi, C. (2021). The network of international trade in services. Applied Network Science, 6, 68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41109-021-00407-1

Temouri, Y., Vogel, A., & Wagner, J. (2013). Self-selection into export markets by business services firms – Evidence from France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 25, 146–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2012.02.004

United Nations. (2012). Manual on statistics of international trade in services 2010: MSITS 2010 (Rev. ed). United Nations.

United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development (pp. 1–49). United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

Verwaal, E., & Donkers, B. (2002). Firm size and export intensity: Solving an empirical puzzle. Journal of International Business Studies, 33(3), 603–613. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8491035

Wagner, J. (2021). The causal effects of exports on firm size and labor productivity: First evidence from a matching approach. In Microeconometric studies of firms’ imports and exports: Advanced methods of analysis and evidence from German enterprises (pp. 47–55). World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9781786349699_0005

Wahl, M. F., & Durst, S. (2022). Digital ownership strategies: The health care services case. In F. Matos, P. M. Selig, & E. Henriqson (Eds.), Resilience in a digital age (pp. 137–158). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85954-1_9

Wettstein, S., Liberatore, A., Magdeleine, J., & Maurer, A. (2019). A global trade in services data set by sector and by mode of supply. World Trade Organization.

Widodo, T. (2009). Comparative advantage: Theory, empirical measures and case studies. Review of Economic and Business Studies (REBS), 4, 57–82.

Williamson, O. E. (1989). Transaction cost economics. In Handbook of industrial organization: Vol. 1 (pp. 135–182). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1573-448X(89)01006-X

Williamson, O. E. (1996). The mechanisms of governance. Oxford University Press.

World Trade Organization. (1995). General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/content/general-agreement-trade-services-gats

World Trade Organization. (2009). A handbook on reading WTO goods and services schedules. Cambridge University Press.

World Trade Organization. (2022). WTO database. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news19_e/serv_31jul19_e.htm

Yi, Z., Wei, L., & Huang, X. (2022). Does information-and-communication-technology market openness promote digital service exports? Sustainability, 14(9), 4901. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14094901