The Relative Impact of Market Orientation and Entrepreneurship on Export Performance: Do We Really Know Enough?

ABSTRACT

The impact of international corporate entrepreneurship and market orientation on firm performance is well acknowledged in the literature, but their relative influence on the performance of exporting firms remains inconclusive. This study seeks to help clarify the influence of these organizational resources by introducing a third complementary resource, namely commitment to learning. The results, based on data obtained from a survey of exporters in China, show that commitment to learning mediates the relationship between market orientation and entrepreneurship. It was also found that market orientation could be a double-edged sword for exporters in that it can enhance export satisfaction through entrepreneurship, but it can also have negative impact on profit.     

印度对华反倾销非市场经济待遇: 1994～2009年历史案件的行业分析

印度已成为全球对外反倾销和对华反倾销第一大国。本文对可获详情的134起涉华案件的非市场经济待遇状况从行业角度进行统计分析,结果表明:(1)在采取反倾销措施的119起案件中,中方应诉案件为66起,在参与终裁应诉的224家企业中,仅有22家获市场经济待遇;(2)政府参股是当局确定中国应诉企业非市场经济待遇的首要依据;(3)调查当局对涉案企业上游主要投入品生产企业股权结构、价格决定、政府干预和要素市场的调查因其对反补贴的潜在影响而值得进一步关注。     

世界大豆贸易格局的演变及对我国的启示

20世纪80年代以后,世界大豆出口市场上形成美国、巴西与阿根廷的寡头垄断格局,我国由1996年前的净出口国和最大生产国之一转为如今世界最大的净进口国。本文对这种贸易格局的演变和原因以及这些寡头的策略行为进行了分析,并针对我国长期与短期策略选择进行了探讨。     

The role of processing trade in exporters' responses to exchange rate: Evidence from China

Processing trade is an important exporting mode for many countries developed by the export-oriented industrialisation such as 1960s Japan, 1990s Korea and 2000s China. Exporters who rely on processing trade for foreign profits do not enjoy much market power, and hence care more about exchange rate changes. We develop a model to illustrate how processing trade affects exporters' responses to exchange rate fluctuations. The model suggests that the elasticity of export price with respect to exchange rate for processing-trade exporters is greater than that of the ordinary-trade exporters, while the elasticity of export quantity of processing-trade exporters is smaller compared to their ordinary-trade counterparts. Most developing countries' governments offer processing-trade exporters better tax/tariff reduction policy to encourage exporting, which grants processing-trade exporters additional advantage to adjust more on export price and less on quantity when facing changes in exchange rate and therefore causes their different responses to exchange rate fluctuations. We find strong empirical supports by studying the data from China, which is the largest developing country and biggest processing-trade exporter.     

世界蘑菇的贸易动向分析

世界蘑菇的生产和贸易主要集中在亚洲、欧洲与北美洲,我国、荷兰、法国等主产国同时也是重要的蘑菇出口国。世界蘑菇贸易以蘑菇罐头为主,保鲜蘑菇和干制蘑菇的贸易量较少。世界蘑菇罐头出口贸易集中度较高,我国与荷兰在蘑菇罐头出口贸易中占据绝对主导地位,且两国在美国市场上存在激烈的竞争。研究世界蘑菇的进出口贸易动向,有利于了解我国蘑菇出口面临的国际市场环境。     

Development of firm export market oriented behavior: Evidence from an emerging economy

Based on gathered survey data from Chinese apparel exporters, using structural equation modeling technique, a proposed firm's export market oriented (EMO) behavior model was empirically tested. A great set of antecedent factors (i.e., organizational structure, export systems, export coordination, top management factors, and export dependence) and moderating factors (i.e., environmental turbulence, export experience) were examined in the context of China, which extends the EMO literature from mainly Western business setting to non-Western business environment. This study identifies several key antecedents (i.e., export reward and training systems, top management support, and export dependence) facilitating the development of firm's EMO behavior while determining the specific moderating effects of environment and experience, and therein explains a large percentage of variance in EMO behavior (78.3%). Importantly, we uncover some instances where the theory of firm EMO behavior's antecedents does not hold for Chinese apparel exporters.     

AGOA and Apparel: Who Captures the Tariff Rent in the Presence of Preferential Market Access?

The United States grants preferential (tariff‐ and quota‐free) market access to a list of products from eligible countries in sub‐Saharan Africa through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). We analyse the increase in prices received by apparel exporters who benefited from AGOA preferences. In the presence of competitive markets, export prices should increase as much as the tariff which was previously collected by the US government. We refer to this price increase as the ‘tariff preference rent’ since exporters receive this income as the rent for their preferential status. The results show that exporters receive only one‐third of this rent and smaller exporters receive less than larger and established ones. We then provide evidence that suggests this may be due to the degree of market power enjoyed by US importers when facing African exporters.     

Food Culture Distance as a Predictor of Foreign Market Selection: The Case of Swedish Food Exporters

The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of dissimilarity in food culture, “food culture distance,” as a predictor of foreign market selection by food exporters. The sample for this study consisted of 96 export ventures by Swedish food companies in 27 international markets. A composite index of the construct food culture distance was calculated and used as a predictor of foreign market attractiveness for food exporters. The findings indicate that food culture distance does positively impact the attractiveness of a foreign market for food exporters, implying that the greater the perceived distance in terms of food culture, the more attractive is the market for food exporters to enter.     

Performance of Exporters in an Emerging Economy

This article develops a contingency framework to investigate demand and supply factors to model small and medium exporters in Dubai a fast emerging economy in the Middle East. MNL methodology is used to identify the factors that discriminate three types of exporters: increasing growth; erratic growth, and decreasing growth. Cross sectional data of 179 exporters for the period from 2000–2003 were used for the analysis. Global demand factors followed by limited local market factors and product attributes are found to statistically discriminate the three types of exporters. The study findings have implications on strategies, promotion and marketing actions, capital constraints of exporters besides policy initiative to be taken by the government and regulatory authority.     

A Comparison of the Characteristics of Canadian and U.K. Exporters by Firm Size

As part of an ongoing study aimed at investigating the determinants of succesful export management, this paper compares characteristics of a new sample of 126 small, medium, and large English exporters with comparable data from 116 Canadian exporters. U.K exporters sold to more countries, had been selling longer, and had a wider product line than corresponding Canadian exporters. Canadian firms concentrated on the U.S. market, had been experiencing a greater increase in export sales, and were more likely to have greater profits in the export market than the domestic market.     

Export Premium,Self‐selection and Learning‐by‐Exporting: Evidence from Chinese Matched Firms

This study empirically focuses on examining the hypotheses of export premium (exporters are more productive than non‐exporters), selection‐into‐exporting (more productive firms are ones that tend to become exporters) and learning‐by‐exporting (new export market entrants have higher productivity growth than non‐exporters in the post‐entry period). The propensity score matching method is used to adjust for observable differences of firm characteristics between exporters and non‐exporters, allowing an adequate ‘like‐for‐like’ comparison. We also use the difference‐in‐difference matching estimator to capture the magnitude of different productivity growth between matched new export market entrants and non‐exporters in the post‐entry period up to two years. Drawing on 2,340 Chinese firms in the period 2000–02, we find evidence for export premium and self‐selection, and once the firm has entered the export market there is additional productivity growth from the learning effect, in particular in the second year after entry.     

Differences among exporting firms based on their degree of internationalization

An overwhelming majority of the investigations of company export behavior have utilized data obtained from all types of firms in a sample. An alternative approach would involve disaggregating the sample into some meaningful groups and contrasting company characteristics across the subsamples of firms. This study attempts to delineate differences among exporting firms when firms are classified by their degree of internationalization. Three types of exporters are identified in light of the internationalization hypothesis: experimental exporters, active exporters, and committed exporters. These firms are then contrasted with each other with respect to measurable company characteristics, domestic market environment, nature of international business involvement, marketing policy aspects, and export market research practices. The analysis in the paper is based upon data gathered through personal interviews with the executives of 70 midwestern manufacturers. The study reveals significant differences among the three types of exporters and provides further insights into the export marketing behavior of firms.     

Exporting raises productivity in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms

Proponents of trade liberalization argue that exporting helps firms to achieve higher productivity levels. This hypothesis is examined for a panel of manufacturing firms in nine African countries. The results indicate that exporters in these countries are more productive and, more importantly, exporters increase their productivity advantage after entry into the export market. While the first finding can be explained by selection-only the most productive firms engage in exporting-the latter cannot. The results are robust when unobserved productivity differences and self-selection into the export market are controlled for using different econometric methods. Scale economies are shown to be an important channel for the productivity advance. Credit constraints and contract enforcement problems prevent firms that only produce for the domestic market from fully exploiting scale economies.     

How innovation impacts firms' export survival: Does export mode matter?

The innovation-export nexus has been extensively explored, while relatively few studies have focused on innovation's impact on firms' export survival and the role of export mode. Using a large panel dataset from China, this research empirically explores how innovation impacts firms' export survival, considering export modes. First, we employ the discrete-time survival analysis model (cloglog) to examine this research addressing the censored issue. Second, the propensity score matching (PSM) methodology is employed to address the selection-bias issue and select the similar firms based on which to compare their Kaplan–Meier survivor probability. Results present a positive role of innovation in the export survival of direct exporters; however, there is an inverted-U relationship between innovation intensity and their survival probability. For indirect exporters, evidence shows an insignificant innovation-export survival nexus. In addition, results show higher export survival for Chinese innovative exporters who are foreign-owned, highly export-intensive, long-lasting in export market, in technology industries. For innovative exporters who export directly, those in medium and low-technological industries and export capital goods are more likely to survive. Our research provides insights for Chinese exporters regarding innovation participation and suggests the government conducting prudent and deliberate design for innovation strategy.     

Paths to foreign markets: Does distance to market affect firm internationalisation?

An idea widely shared among international business scholars, economists and geographers is that geographic, cultural and psychic distance to market affects firm internationalisation in a number of ways. However, evidence for this broad proposition remains inconclusive. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of four separate hypotheses pertaining to the location of markets, the sequence of market entry, the rate of international expansion, and the relationship between sequentially-linked markets. In contrast with previous studies, the analysis is based on a large sample of non-repetitive foreign market entries (n=1132) made by diverse exporters in dissimilar locations within a single country (China). Market entry data thus exhibit substantial variation on the constructs of interest. The results reveal virtually no support for three traditional hypotheses linking distance to market with the sequence of markets entered and the rate of foreign expansion. This study challenges the long-held notion that there is a simple link between distance and market entry sequence. However, this study provides arguably the first demonstration of the “near-market effect” in the context of low-risk entry modes such as exporting. Specifically, the results show that consecutive export locations tend to be culturally related suggesting that exporters are able to transfer learning between similar markets.     

Market orientation among small Korean exporters

Day's conceptual framework linking market orientation with business performance is adapted for the export market, and is empirically tested using a sample of 341 small Korean exporters. The modified measures of market orientation have reasonably high degree of reliability. The prescribed relationships in the framework are supported by empirical findings. The implications are that in a highly volatile export market; market orientation indeed plays a key role in the success of small Korean exporters.     

Exporting raises productivity in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms

Proponents of trade liberalization argue that exporting helps firms to achieve higher productivity levels. This hypothesis is examined for a panel of manufacturing firms in nine African countries. The results indicate that exporters in these countries are more productive and, more importantly, exporters increase their productivity advantage after entry into the export market. While the first finding can be explained by selection–only the most productive firms engage in exporting–the latter cannot. The results are robust when unobserved productivity differences and self-selection into the export market are controlled for using different econometric methods. Scale economies are shown to be an important channel for the productivity advance. Credit constraints and contract enforcement problems prevent firms that only produce for the domestic market from fully exploiting scale economies.     

Export performance of small firms from small countries: The case of New Zealand

Drawing on traditional models of multinational expansion and organisational learning, Brouthers et al. (J Int Mark 17:21–38, 2009) prescribe that in some circumstances, small firms exporting from small countries should concentrate their exports into a single overseas market. These particular circumstances pertain to small Greek and Caribbean exporters in mature low-technology industries. This research extends this 2009 study to the same size group of small firms in another small country, New Zealand. Model estimation involved multiple regression methods on survey data from 249 small New Zealand exporters. Contrasting with Brouthers et al.’s advice, this study finds that small New Zealand exporters should not concentrate their exports into one or a few overseas markets. Success for these small firms stemmed from higher rates of R&D expenditure and multi-market exporting through company-owned channels in distant markets. These differences reflect the different environments and sample characteristics between the two studies. The paper contextualises further the evidence base on the strategies that small firm owner-managers should pursue and policy makers should promote.     

Declining global market share of Singapore's electronics exports: Is it a concern?

In contrast with the steadily rising shares of other regional exporters, Singapore's export shares in the global electronics market have been faltering in recent years. This has given rise to concerns about its export competitiveness. The drop in Singapore's global ranking can be attributed to shrinking exports of end products and low‐end electronics parts, as manufacturers relocate such assembly production out of Singapore to the regional economies. Fortunately, Singapore remains competitive in the export of high‐end intermediate electronics components, which are characterized by capability, technology, and automation‐intensive processes. While Singapore is progressing in the right direction, the climb up the high‐tech value chain needs to be further accelerated in order to maintain a technology gap with regional exporters. Besides accelerating its own industrial upgrading, Singapore needs to actively pursue measures that would help create a more integrated and competitive production platform for ASEAN, as well as to seek opportunities to service the rapidly enlarging consumer market in China. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Pure Exporter: Theory and Evidence from China

This article provides the first evidence about pure exporters (i.e. firms exporting all of their output to the foreign market) – a phenomenon overlooked and cannot be explained in the existing literature. It then offers a theoretical analysis of the existence and behaviour of pure exporters. In particular, pure exporters arise when the export market is sufficiently large – a situation more likely to hold in developing countries as opposed to large developed countries, and their productivity levels are above those of nonexporters, but below those of firms having both domestic sales and export. These theoretical predictions are borne out in a data of Chinese manufacturing firms for the period of 1998–2005.