Table 8: Import Uncertainty, Mean and Median Time to Import and Export Uncertainty

||Firm <br>Ra|Entry<br>te|Firm<br>R|Exit<br>ate|Entrant<br>Survi|First yr.<br>val Rate|Entrant <br>Survi|Second yr.<br>val Rate|Entrant <br>Surviv|Third yr.<br>al Rate|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||(1)|(2)|(3)|(4)|(5)|(6)|(7)|(8)|(9)|(10)|
|Log import uncertainty||0.015*||0.011||-0.044**||-0.054*||-0.022|
|||(0.008)||(0.010)||(0.020)||(0.032)||(0.062)|
|Log mean time to import|-0.012|-0.042**|-0.011|-0.031|-0.021|0.010|-0.056|-0.013|-0.080|-0.142|
||(0.010)|(0.018)|(0.013)|(0.023)|(0.023)|(0.042)|(0.037)|(0.069)|(0.071)|(0.142)|
||(11)|(12)|(13)|(14)|(15)|(16)|(17)|(18)|(19)|(20)|
|Log import uncertainty||0.009||0.009||-0.047***||-0.068***||-0.047|
|||(0.007)||(0.008)||(0.016)||(0.025)||(0.047)|
|Log median time to import|-0.015*|-0.030***|-0.013|-0.035**|-0.009|0.025|-0.007|0.037|-0.066|-0.073|
||(0.008)|(0.011)|(0.011)|(0.014)|(0.020)|(0.026)|(0.031)|(0.045)|(0.059)|(0.082)|
||(21)|(22)|(23)|(24)|(25)|(26)|(27)|(28)|(29)|(30)|
|Log import uncertainty||0.008||0.009||-0.030*||-0.024||-0.079*|
|||(0.008)||(0.009)||(0.017)||(0.026)||(0.042)|
|Log export uncertainty|-0.039***|-0.036***|-0.018**|-0.015|0.005|0.010|-0.009|-0.002|0.043|-0.005|
||(0.006)|(0.007)|(0.008)|(0.009)|(0.014)|(0.016)|(0.021)|(0.024)|(0.040)|(0.045)|
|Log median time to export|0.023**|0.011|0.009|-0.009|-0.004|0.012|0.004|0.026|0.048|0.180*|
||(0.010)|(0.011)|(0.013)|(0.015)|(0.024)|(0.027)|(0.035)|(0.040)|(0.079)|(0.093)|

Notes: PPML estimates. *** p _<_ 0.01, ** p _<_ 0.05, * p _<_ 0.1. Robust standard errors clustered on exporter-importer pair in parentheses. Control variables included but not reported. Full regression tables are available upon request. The description and source of variables are provided in Table A3 in the Appendix.

variable bias if not accounted for.<sup>32</sup> First, we consider the number of documents required to import taken from the Doing Business database. Since it covers the documents required for clearance by the entities involved in the import process, including government ministries, Customs authorities, port and container terminal authorities, health and technical control agencies as well as banks, it captures the extent to which importing can be difficult due to cumbersome administrative formalities. Since any misstep in furnishing required documents by the importer or its delegate Customs broker may cause delays that are not necessarily related to the efficiency of the border control process but rather to the characteristics of the importer itself, or the managerial quality and competencies of its broker, we expect this variable to influence import uncertainty, beyond its direct implications for export performance already documented in the literature.<sup>33</sup> In addition, failing to directly take into account broader indicators of trade costs might bias the results if they happen to be correlated with each other. Table 9 (Columns 1-5) evidences a negative association of the number of documents required to import with the entry rate and the thirdyear survival rate of entrants, but its introduction does not change our initial results. Second, following the same rationale, we include an indicator derived from the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) and measuring the timeliness of shipments in reaching their destination within the scheduled or expected delivery time. Again, our baseline estimates remain unchanged, while the LPI index influences neither the entry nor the survival rate of exporting firms (Columns 6-10). This result is meaningful for two reasons. First, the LPI index covers the timeliness of the whole import process, including transportation from the port of origin to the port of destination as well as road transportation to deliver the imported

> 32Full regressions are available upon request.

> 33See for instance Li and Wilson (2009); Djankov, Freund, and Pham (2010) and Gamberoni, Lanz, and Piermartini (2010) for studies relying on the Doing Business Indicators to show the adverse impact of delays on trade outcomes.

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