Technological strategies and learning-by-exporting: The case of Brazilian manufacturing firms, 2006–2008

•New exporters from Brazilian manufacturing firms become more productive and larger than non-exporters (learning by exporting).•Technological strategies aiming at innovation improve the productivity and size of both exporters and non-exporters.•The differentiated technological strategies of new exporters are generally not correlated with learning-by-exporting.

This article assesses the relationship between learning by exporting and technological strategies for Brazilian manufacturing firms from 2006 to 2008. Technological strategies are characterised by the importance placed on innovation activities, sources of information and cooperation for innovation, and the location of these sources. Combining factor analysis with regression analysis, we find that (i) new exporters become more productive and larger than non-exporters; (ii) technological strategies improve the productivity and size of all firms; and (iii) the differentiated technological strategies of new exporters are generally not correlated with learning by exporting. Learning by exporting might be related to factors that are not captured by the Brazilian Technological Innovation Survey, and the absence of correlation between learning by exporting and technological strategies might reflect some missed opportunities for technological learning from international trade.