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Helping SMEs internationalise through trade facilitation

Author

Listed:
  • Javier López González

    (OECD)

  • Silvia Sorescu

    (OECD)

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in generating economic activity and employment in developing and developed countries. However, partly due to remaining at-the-border trade costs, SMEs continue to be less represented in international trade – as direct exporters or importers – than larger firms. Drawing on cross-country data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES), together with the OECD Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (TEC), this paper looks at the relationship between the trade facilitation environment – as measured through the OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators (TFIs) – and various measures of international engagement of SMEs. While there are differentiated impacts across firm size for different trade facilitation areas, the analysis shows that firms of all sizes across both developed and developing economies benefit from improvements in the overall trade facilitation environment, helping them export and import. However, on aggregate, smaller firms benefit more from improvements in the overall trade facilitation environment relative to large firms. The analysis also suggests that some trade facilitation measures matter more in addressing fixed versus variable costs for SMEs and provides some guidance as to what trade facilitation policy reforms might be prioritised.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier López González & Silvia Sorescu, 2019. "Helping SMEs internationalise through trade facilitation," OECD Trade Policy Papers 229, OECD Publishing.
  • Handle: RePEc:oec:traaab:229-en
    DOI: 10.1787/2050e6b0-en
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kovaitė Kristina & Šūmakaris Paulius & Stankevičienė Jelena & Korsakienė Renata, 2019. "Industry 4.0 as the Driving Force of SME Internationalisation: A Case of Lithuania," Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 33(1), pages 192-206, January.
    2. Roger Hosein & Rebecca Gookool & George Saridakis, 2021. "Trade Facilitation and Non-Energy Exports of Trinidad and Tobago," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    exporting; importing; inclusive trade; SMEs; trade costs; trade facilitation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F63 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Economic Development
    • F68 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Policy
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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