Exporter dynamics in South Africa: The influence of foreign technology and information networks on survival

This paper investigates how foreign technology and information networks influence exporter dynamics and survival among South African manufacturing firms. Utilizing merged customs export and import and CIT-IRP5 firm-level data from 2010 to 2021, the study first establishes key stylized facts on export dynamics. Econometric analysis, employing a complementary log-log and extended piecewise constant exponential hazard model, reveals that both foreign technology and a firm's network information are crucial for the export survival of South African manufacturing firms. At the firm-time level, strong local cross-firm information spillovers significantly reduce exit risk, while firms investing in research and development and insourcing intellectual property through royalty payments exhibit higher survival. In addition, at the firm product-destination-time level, only royalty expenditure and international networks lower hazard, highlighting the role of product differentiation and global linkage