Exports and capital accumulation: some empirical evidence from the Mexican manufacturing industry

Abstract

New growth-trade theories have emphasized the contribution of international trade to economic growth through its effect on capital accumulation. This paper tests the hypothesis that export oriented sectors attain higher rates of investment using panel data techniques and sectoral data from the Mexican manufacturing industry between 1970 and 1990. Despite the substantial variations in export shares across sectors and over time, the study can find no evidence supportive of the hypothesis that exports lead to capital accumulation. There is evidence that common determinants, such as the real exchange rate, may be behind the correlations between exports and investment rates found in cross-country studies.