Ownership structure and firm export performance. Evidence from Slovenian microdata

This paper combines two very distinct strands of literature, firm-level trade analysis and studies on the impact of ownership structure. I explore the effects firm ownership structure has on its engagement with external trade using data for the population of Slovene enterprises between 2005 and 2013. The estimates indicate that concentrated firm ownership is more conducive to firms being exporters or becoming first-time exporters. Even after controlling for firm type, age, ownership type and ownership stability, firms with a larger ownership share held by the top five owners are more likely to become first-time exporters. While the association between the concentration of ownership and exporting status is slightly more ambiguous, overall the evidence favors concentrated ownership. Interestingly, the otherwise robust finding that foreign ownership improves the probability of exporting is restricted to limited-liability companies, while joint-stock companies show no association between lagged foreign ownership and export participation.