The Impact of Local Services Development on the Export Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms

Yi Zhang; Hein Roelfsema; Christopher  Findlay; Chun  Liu

doi:10.1007/s11079-026-09855-7

The Impact of Local Services Development on the Export Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms

Yi Zhang
, Hein Roelfsema
, Christopher Findlay
, Chun Liu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Strategy, Organisation, Entrepreneurship

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The role of services in international trade has attracted growing attention in recent years. Using matched data from Chinese customs, listed firms, and city statistical yearbooks from 2005 to 2015, this study investigates how the development of local producer services affects the export performance of Chinese manufacturing firms. Controlling for a large set of firm and city characteristics, along with various fixed effects, we find that local services development significantly improves export values for firms that are highly dependent on service inputs. This effect is primarily driven by reductions in trade-related costs and gains in firm productivity. Moreover, our results show that the development of local services is especially beneficial for smaller firms and in promoting export product diversification, while having a limited impact on export geographic expansion.

Original language	English
Number of pages	36
Journal	Open Economies Review
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11079-026-09855-7
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 24 Jan 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2026.

Funding

This research is part of the work of the Jean Monnet Network of Trade and Investment in Services Associates (TIISA), funded by the European Commission.

Funders
European Commission

Keywords

China
Export performance
Local services development

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10.1007/s11079-026-09855-7

Cite this

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title = "The Impact of Local Services Development on the Export Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms",

abstract = "The role of services in international trade has attracted growing attention in recent years. Using matched data from Chinese customs, listed firms, and city statistical yearbooks from 2005 to 2015, this study investigates how the development of local producer services affects the export performance of Chinese manufacturing firms. Controlling for a large set of firm and city characteristics, along with various fixed effects, we find that local services development significantly improves export values for firms that are highly dependent on service inputs. This effect is primarily driven by reductions in trade-related costs and gains in firm productivity. Moreover, our results show that the development of local services is especially beneficial for smaller firms and in promoting export product diversification, while having a limited impact on export geographic expansion.",

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AU - Findlay, Christopher

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AB - The role of services in international trade has attracted growing attention in recent years. Using matched data from Chinese customs, listed firms, and city statistical yearbooks from 2005 to 2015, this study investigates how the development of local producer services affects the export performance of Chinese manufacturing firms. Controlling for a large set of firm and city characteristics, along with various fixed effects, we find that local services development significantly improves export values for firms that are highly dependent on service inputs. This effect is primarily driven by reductions in trade-related costs and gains in firm productivity. Moreover, our results show that the development of local services is especially beneficial for smaller firms and in promoting export product diversification, while having a limited impact on export geographic expansion.

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The Impact of Local Services Development on the Export Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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