EXPORTS AND CAPITAL ACCUMULATION - SOME EMPIRICAL-EVIDENCE FROM THE MEXICAN MANUFACTURING-INDUSTRY

New growth-trade theories have emphasized the contribution of internat ional trade to economic growth through its effect on capital accumulat ion. This paper tests the hypothesis that export oriented sectors atta in higher rates of investment using panel data techniques and sectoral data from the Mexican manufacturing industry between 1970 and 1990. D espite 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 com mon determinants, such as the real exchange rate, may be behind the co rrelations between exports and investment rates found in crosscountry studies.