The Role of Exporters and Domestic Producers in GVCs: Evidence for Belgium Based on Extended National Supply and Use Tables Integrated into a Global Multiregional Input-Output Table

For a finer analysis of global value chain integration and competitiveness, we develop and apply a method for a micro-data based breakdown of manufacturing industries in the 2010 Belgian supply-and-use tables into export-oriented and domestic market firms. The former are defined as those firms that export at least 25 percent of their turnover. We then derive export-heterogeneous national input-output tables which we integrate into a global table. Our analyses reveal that: a) export-oriented manufacturers have lower value-added in output shares and import proportionally more of the intermediates they use; b) exports of export-oriented manufacturers generate substantial value added in other Belgian firms, in particular providers of services; c) Belgium’s backward participation in global value chains is mainly due to export-oriented manufacturers and its forward participation is due to other firms, d) export-oriented manufacturers participate in value chains that comprise, on average, a greater number of upstream and downstream production stages and of which a greater share is located abroad.