디지털 플랫폼의 활용이 중소기업의 국제화에 미치는 영향과 정책 시사점(The Internationalization of SMEs via Digital Platforms: Findings and Policy Implications)

디지털 플랫폼의 발전과 함께 글로벌 전자상거래 시장이 빠르게 성장하고 있다. 디지털 플랫폼을 활용한 국제화는 전통적인 방식에 비해 해외시장 진입 비용을 크게 낮추었는데, 이는 자본이나 인력 면에서 상대적으로 열세에 놓여 있는 중소기업에 새로운 기회를 제공할 것으로 기대된다. The global e-commerce market has been rapidly expanding due to the development of digital platforms. When compared to traditional methods, internationalization via digital platforms has significantly reduced the cost of entering overseas markets, which is expected to open up new opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited capital or manpower. However, few studies have been conducted on domestic SMEs internationalization via digital platforms. Furthermore, little is known about the effects of relevant policies on SMEs’ use of digital platforms and internationalization. Aiming to fill this research gap, this study collects data on Korean SMEs’ online exports (i.e., exports via e-commerce), the most representative type of SMEs’ internationalization through digital platforms, establishes stylized facts, and investigates the effects of Korean SMEs’ online export support policies. Based on the findings, we also provide policy implications. In Chapter 2, we first conduct a survey on domestic SMEs’ online exports using a sample representing domestic SMEs registered as official e-commerce firms as of June 2021. Based on survey results, we document basic descriptive statistics on SMEs’ online exports behavior and investigate their main issues and policy demands. Chapter 3 outlines Korea’s online export support policies for SMEs and explores the effects of five major online export assistance programs on SMEs’ online exports. For the estimation of the effects, we combined the survey data from Chapter 2 with information on the firms participating in the programs, which are provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Korea Enterprise Data (KED). (the rest omitted)