Abstract

Improving the efficiency of firms is one of the most important factors in economic growth. There are studies pointing to a possible increase in the productivity of firms as a result of their involvement in international trade. Partly, these differences are due to the fact that more efficient firms initially enter the international market (selection effect), but beyond this effect there is a direct effect on the productivity of participation in international trade. In addition, there is reason to believe that simultaneous participation in both exporting and importing activities (e.g. as a result of being embedded in value chains) may have a greater effect. Using econometric and analytical methods of data analysis, the heterogeneity of causal relationships between the increase in productivity of enterprises and their export and import status was revealed. However, the paper developed a methodology to identify enterprises whose potential involvement in international trade can contribute most to the growth of their productivity. The results of this research can be used for: the patterns established, as well as quantitative estimates of the magnitude of the effects corresponding to them, can be used to refine the forecasts of the effects of economic policy in the scenario analysis. Estimates of the effects of lowering the barriers to firms' export market entry on the productivity of Russian enterprises.