Customer Capital Spillovers: Evidence from Sales Managers in International Markets

81 Pages Posted: 10 Mar 2023

See all articles by Berengere Patault

Berengere Patault

University of Amsterdam

Clemence Lenoir

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - National School for Statistical and Economic Administration (ENSAE)

Date Written: March 6, 2023

Abstract

Expanding their customer base is crucial for firms to grow. This paper leverages sales managers' job-to-job transitions to better understand how buyer-seller relationships form. Combining unique French firm-to-firm trade data with matched employer-employee data, we carry out an event-study analysis that exploits the timing of sales managers' transitions from one firm to another for identification. We find that recruiting a sales manager increases by 32\% the probability to export to the buyers of her former firm. The expansion of the firm's customer base comes at the expense of the buyer's former suppliers. Yet, business stealing is only partial, and thus job-to-job transitions are not zero-sum.

Keywords: sales managers, business networks, customers, international trade

JEL Classification: F14, F16, M3, L2, L25

Suggested Citation

Patault, Berengere and Lenoir, Clemence, Customer Capital Spillovers: Evidence from Sales Managers in International Markets (March 6, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4379065 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4379065

Berengere Patault (Contact Author)

University of Amsterdam ( email )

Roetersstraat 11
Amsterdam, North Holland 1018 WB
Netherlands

Clemence Lenoir

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - National School for Statistical and Economic Administration (ENSAE) ( email )

92245 Malakoff Cedex
France

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