Evaluating the effectiveness of export support services in developing countries

Purpose - The lack of detailed statistics in many developing countries makes it very difficult to assess the effect of export support services on the firm's export performance. Moreover, a fundamental factor that creates confusion is the lack of a straightforward causal relationship between a specific export support activity and changes in actual trade patterns. Despite these difficulties, the purpose of this paper is to show that an assessment of the effectiveness of export promotion and support services can be made on the basis of the perceptions of the manufacturers involved. The method is simple and informative. Design/methodology/approach - This research is based on a survey of 88 footwear and textile manufactures from a small new African country, Eritrea. The sample size accounts for 90 percent of the overall population. Findings - On average, the quality of the export support services is rated as satisfactory. This can be considered as rather low, as the export promotion policy of the government is much more ambitious. The results of the discriminant analysis are in line with the literature and show that small enterprises in Eritrea have less access to export support services than larger firms. This can be considered as a major failure of the policy as in the modern entrepreneurial export economy small firms play a crucial role. Research limitations/implications - Although the sample size accounts for 90 percent of the population, it is relatively small. To verify the results it would be interesting to conduct a comprehensive survey that includes all export manufacturing industries in Eritrea. Practical implications - The findings of this study are useful for export policy makers in developing countries. The presented method shows that it is possible to measure the perception of the manufacturers with regard to the effectiveness of export promotion and support services. It also allows to compare the performance of those services and to identify priorities for the policy agenda. Originality/value - The study develops a simple evaluation tool for the effectiveness of export support services in developing countries.