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SMEs in Argentina: Who are the Exporters?

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Author Info

  • Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano

    () (Bocconi University DEP-KITeS, Milan, Italy - and FEEM, CEPR)

  • Christian Volpe Martincus

    () (Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, United States of America)

Abstract

There exists a growing body of literature which looks at export decisions made by firms. Most studies focus on developed countries and do not explore whether different behavioral patterns prevail over the firm size distribution. This paper aims at filling this gap in the literature by analyzing the export behavior of a statistically representative sample of 192 Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (SMEs) in a developing country, Argentina, over the period 1996-1998. We find that the level of employment, sourcing from abroad, investment in product improvement and average productivity are associated with a higher probability of exporting. Training activities for employees are important to export outside of MERCOSUR.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy in its series KITeS Working Papers with number 024.

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Length: 32 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2009
Date of revision: Jun 2009
Handle: RePEc:cri:cespri:kites24_wp

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Postal: via Sarfatti, 25 - 20136 Milano - Italy
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Fax: +39.025836.3399
Web page: http://www.kites.unibocconi.it/

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Keywords: SME; Exports; Argentina;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Fakih, Ali & Ghazalian, Pascal L., 2013. "Why Some Firms Export? An Empirical Analysis for Manufacturing Firms in the MENA Region," IZA Discussion Papers 7172, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  2. Albarrán, Pedro & Carrasco, Raquel & Holl, Adelheid, 2011. "Domestic transport infrastructure and firms’ export market participation," Open Access publications from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid info:hdl:10016/13899, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

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