The article examines different types of firms in Latin America to understand how their productivity levels relate to their ownership and exporting status. Contrary to current theories, there is no clear productivity cut-off for firms, and exporting is not limited to highly productive firms. Foreign-owned firms tend to have higher productivity levels, especially in the services sector. Additionally, there is a positive link between a country's overall productivity and its development level. Services firms are less affected by a country's development level compared to manufacturing firms.