Export Mode Heterogenicity and Enterprise Productivity—A Test about Learning by Exporting

Based on the theory of heterogeneous enterprise trade and enterprise micro-data, this paper investigates the influence of direct export and indirect export on enterprise productivity, and explains the knowledge spillovers of the hypothesis of “learning by exporting” from the perspective of the relationship between export and enterprise productivity. Empirical results show that: direct export improves enterprise productivity which increased with the rising of direct export intensity. By contrast, indirect export exerts little influence on enterprise productivity. We conclude that direct export is an important channel for “learning by exporting” which is of great significance to improvement of enterprise productivity.