Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Endnotes: Commerce Without Borders: Latin America’s Wired Entrepreneurs

Below are the endnotes from “Commerce Without Borders: How the Internet Is Turning Latin America’s Small Businesses into Global Traders” by Usman Ahmed and Brian Bieron (Spring 2015 AQ.)

  1. See Andrew Bernard et al, “Firms in International Trade,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 21(3) (Summer 2007): 105-130 for the US; and J. Eaton et al, “Trade and the Global Recession,” (2009) for France.  Thierry Mayer and Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, “The Happy Few: the Internationalisation of European Firms,” Bruegel Blueprint Series, 2007, <http://www.ecares.org/ecare/personal/sapir/happyfew.pdf>, report higher shares of firms exporting in other European markets, but based on a less comprehensive set of data that excludes many small firms.  One should be careful comparing these shares across countries because figures for different countries are normally based on different types of data.  Less comprehensive datasets that do not include the large number of small firms typically show higher shares of firms exporting.
  2. See Luisa Leme, “São Paulo 2014 Blog: Six Facts about SMEs in Brazil”, Americas Society/Council of the Americas blog, March 12, 2014, <www.as-coa.org/blogs/s%C3%A3o-paulo-2014-blog-six-facts-about-smes-brazil> (accessed March 5, 2015); and Carolin Haner, “SMEs in Turbulent Times – A Comparative Analysis Between Argentina, Brazil and European Countries.” Master’s Thesis, Wiesbaden Business School, October 15, 2011, <www.dynamic-sme.org/es1/sites/default/files/84362171-SMEs-in-turbulent-times-%E2%80%93-A-comparative-analysis-between-Argentina-Brazil-and-European-countries-Carolin-Haner.pdf> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  3. “Exporter Dynamics Database,” World Bank Group, 2012, <data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/exporter-dynamics-database> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  4. eBay data is based on commercial sellers (annual sales ≥ $10,000) in 2012.  World Bank data is from the “Enterprise Surveys” and includes firms that report to export indirectly, e.g., through intermediaries (see “Enterprise Surveys,” World Bank Group, <www.enterprisesurveys.org/Methodology> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  5. Export is defined as having sold at least one item to a buyer who is based outside Brazil.
  6. “Exporter Dynamics Database,” World Bank Group, 2012, <data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/exporter-dynamics-database> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  7. These four markets are no outliers for traditional exporters.  Across the 45 countries covered by the World Bank database, exporters reach around 3 markets on average.  Similar findings have been made for sellers based in large developed countries, such as the US or France.  Even when we include all eBay exporters in the analysis, including those with annual exports below $10,000, we find that they reach on average multiple times more markets than “traditional exporters.”
  8. Based on commercial sellers (annual exports ≥ $10,000) in 2012. See “Exporter Dynamics Database,” World Bank Group, 2012.
  9. Brazil Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, “Evolution of Brazilian Foreign Trade: 1950 to 2013,” <www.desenvolvimento.gov.br/portalmdic/arquivos/dwnl_1410974562.xls> (accessed April 13, 2015).  
  10. Ibid.
  11. See Mayer and Ottaviano (2007).
  12. The chart shows the share of sales conducted by the largest 5 percent of sellers.  Only commercial eBay sellers with annual sales of at least $10,000 are considered.  The results are based on 2012 data.  For “traditional exporters” see “Exporter Dynamics Database,” World Bank Group, 2012.
  13. The survival rate definition is taken from the World Bank to allow for comparability with the traditional data.  It is defined as the share of newcomers that remain active in the second year (as compared to those entering the market in one year and dropping out in the next year).  Only commercial eBay sellers with annual sales of at least $10,000 are considered (although we still consider them as “survivors” if their sales drop below that threshold in the second year).  The results are based on an average across 2009-2011.  Source for “traditional exporters” see “Exporter Dynamics Database, World Bank Group, 2009-2010 (latest available year).
  14. “Where We Work: Latin American and Caribbean,” Internet Society, <www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/latin-america-caribbean> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  15. Edward Monks, “The Brazil Scientific Mobility Undergraduate Program in the United States: A New Phase in U.S.-Brazil Educational Exchange,” Institute of International Education, October 2012, <www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Publications-and-Reports/IIE-Bookstore/Brazil-Scientific-Mobility-Undergraduate-Program-United-States-2012> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  16. “Connect Americas,” Inter-American Development Bank, <connectamericas.com> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  17. John Price and Lindsay Lehr, “Latin America Cards & Payments Trends Whitepaper,” Americas Market Intelligence, 2014 <americasmi.com/archivos/pdf/LAC_Cards_and_payments_trends_white_paper_by_AMI_2014_11_19.pdf> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  18. Will Hernandez, “Brazil’s mobile payments market comes into focus after regulations,” Mobile Payments Today, June 20, 2014 <www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/articles/brazils-mobile-payments-market-comes-into-focus-after-regulations> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  19. World Trade Organization, Trade Policy Review Body, “Trade Policy Review Report by the Secretariat: Brazil,” May 17, 2013 <www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/s283_e.pdf> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  20. “Overview of de minimis value regimes open to express shipments world wide,” Global Express Association, August 4, 2013, <www.global-express.org/assets/files/Trade/Country%20info%20on%20de%20minimis_04082013.pdf> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  21. The Library of Congress, “H.R. 1020 Low Value Shipment Regulatory Modernization Act of 2013,” <thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:H.R.1020.IH> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  22. “EBay Inc. Releases New Research: Enabling Australian Export Opportunities,” eBay Main Street, <www.ebaymainstreet.com/news-events/ebay-inc-releases-new-research-enabling-australian-export-opportunities> (accessed April 13, 2015).
  23. Andreas Lendle and Marcelo Olarreaga, et al. “There goes Gravity: How eBay Reduces Trade Costs,” World Bank Group, October 2012 <elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/1813-9450-6253> (accessed April 13, 2015).
Sign up for our free newsletter