Returning to exports is when a firm has a temporary break when exporting a product to a destination. Using detailed, firm-level trade data, we find that the importance of such spells is sizeable and that firms re-launch products multiple times. The export value at the first launch is linked to the eventual path of product survival: it is lowest for products exported only once and highest for products exported continuously. Returning products exhibit an increase in price after each break from exporting; furthermore, the unit value growth for returning products is found to be systematically larger than the unit-value growth of products exported continuously over a comparable time span.
Professor Zuzanna Studnicka is an Assistant Professor in the UCD School of Economics in Dublin and Beijing. The core focus of her research is international economics. Her areas of expertise include firm-level analysis of international trade, firm location choices, global value chains, and foreign direct investment. Her on-going research includes papers on topics particularly relevant in the context of Brexit, such as investment decisions of multinational firms, export diversification, and export survival of Irish-based companies. Zuzanna Studnicka received her Ph.D. in economics from KU Leuven (Belgium) and holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Paris 1 (France).