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1 – 10 of over 36000Saeed Moshiri and Elham Kheirandish
Oil price shocks greatly impact the global economy, but the effects vary among countries. While higher oil prices benefit oil-exporting countries, they harm the economic…
Abstract
Purpose
Oil price shocks greatly impact the global economy, but the effects vary among countries. While higher oil prices benefit oil-exporting countries, they harm the economic performance of oil-importing nations, and vice versa for lower oil prices. However, economic relations, such as trade, can mitigate the impacts of oil price shocks on both groups. In this paper, the authors aim at estimating the effects of oil price shocks on the major net oil-exporting and net oil-importing countries while accounting for international trade.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors derive a reduced form of a macro model and set up a Panel VAR model to estimate the direct and indirect impacts of oil price shocks on economic growth. The sample includes data on macroeconomic variables from 30 oil-exporting and oil-importing countries that comprise more than 73 percent of the world's economy. The authors construct the spillover variables using bilateral trade matrix. To control for institutional and structural variations across the countries, they are divided into four groups of developed and developing oil-exporting and oil-importing countries.
Findings
The results reveal that all oil-exporting countries have significantly benefited from oil price shocks, although trade has dampened the effect. The positive growth effect has been more pronounced in oil-exporting developing countries. The impact of oil price shocks on oil-importing countries has been negative with a one-year delay, but not statistically significant, and trade has only had a small effect. The effect has been more substantial in oil-importing developing countries.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitations of this study is the focus on trade as the main spillover channel. Given the data availability, other channels such as foreign investment and financial markets can also be included in future studies.
Practical implications
Removing trade restrictions would help both oil-exporting and oil-importing countries to mitigate the negative impacts of the oil price shocks. However, the asymmetric oil-macroeconomy relationship across oil-exporting and oil-importing countries puts oil-exporting countries in a more vulnerable position as they cannot rely on trade with oil-importing countries to reduce the negative impacts of lower oil prices on their growth. Therefore, it is crucial for oil-exporting countries to reassess their oil-dependent development plans and invest their oil revenues in non-oil sectors to diversity their economies and prepare for a future with reduced dependence on oil.
Social implications
The recent technological advances, structural changes, and increasing energy efficiency suggest that major oil-importing countries will become less dependent on oil in near future. As a result, oil-exporting countries will also need to undergo structural changes in order to sustain their income level. These significant changes will have important social implications, particularly in the labor market, during the transition, for which preparation will be necessary.
Originality/value
While the literature on the total impact of oil price shocks on either oil-exporting or oil-importing countries is rich, studies on their spillover impacts are limited. Recent research has shown that trade and migration can affect the impact of oil price shock on the economy in federated countries such as Canada. However, the trade effect on oil price shocks in the international level, where countries are subject to different regulations/restrictions and institutional variations, remains scarce. By considering the trade relationship between different groups of oil-exporting and oil-importing countries, the authors aim to contribute to the literature of the global impacts of oil price shocks on the world economy.
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Sui Sui, Matthias Baum and Dandan Li
This paper aims to study the learning-by-exporting effect among small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, the authors propose a dynamic perspective and suggest that…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the learning-by-exporting effect among small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, the authors propose a dynamic perspective and suggest that learning-by-exporting is duration-dependent and contingent upon the born global internationalization strategy. In earlier phases of export activities, exporting has had a strong positive effect on SMEs’ innovations, which, however, diminishes over time. This inverted U-shape effect is even more distinct for born global firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used longitudinal data with 1,689 Canadian SMEs to test their hypotheses. A two-stage instrumental approach is used to take into account the endogeneity of the born global international strategy on new product innovations.
Findings
Born globals learn faster at the early stages of exporting but also restrain their innovations more strongly than gradual internationalizers in the longer run, leveling out the initial learning advantages of newness. Thus, this study suggests that born globals have a significantly different learning trajectory than gradual internationalizers.
Practical implications
To maximize the benefits of exporting on innovation, managers should focus on learning during the initial years of exporting. However, once this period has passed, it is advisable for managers to invest in research and development as well as other innovation activities to complement the learning effect of exporting. Born global firms experience more rapid learning at the initial stage of exporting, but such learning effects wear off quicker later than gradually internationalized firms. For SME managers, this study helps draw their attention to the learning benefits of exporting in the initial years of export participation.
Originality/value
This study corroborates recent studies arguing for a “learning-by-exporting” effect. Providing longitudinal firm-level evidence, the authors also forward a dynamic perspective and show that learning by exporting is duration dependent and contingent upon the market entry strategy pursued by SMEs.
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Carlos M. Rodriguez, Jorge A. Wise and Carlos Ruy Martinez
This study aims to examine in the context of high involvement exporting Mexican firms a model which suggests that a blend of absorptive and dynamic capabilities is necessary to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine in the context of high involvement exporting Mexican firms a model which suggests that a blend of absorptive and dynamic capabilities is necessary to build and sustain their competitiveness in international markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 119 high involvement Mexican exporting firms through informants. Formative and reflective constructs were validated through MIMIC models and confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL. The theoretical model was tested using partial least squares (PLS).
Findings
Results suggest that high involvement Mexican exporting firms' capacity to adapt through product design, technology management, manufacturing processes, and cooperative relationships impacts their innovation and market expansion-adaptation capabilities. Nurturing an entrepreneurship orientation is critical to build flexibility, transfer innovation to markets, and drive export performance. Ultimately, performance is determined by the firms' ability to design and develop products through the adoption of improved technologies, a deep understanding of international demands, and an ability to refocus exporting strategies as changes in competitive contexts require.
Research limitations/implications
The design of exporting capabilities in this study only applies to high involvement exporting firms.
Practical implications
High involvement exporting firms sustain growth through the development of exploration (learning), exploitation (expansion-adaptation), and dynamic (innovation, entrepreneurship) capabilities as determinant of performance.
Originality/value
This is the first model that tests relationships among learning, manufacturing flexibility, and market expansion-adaptation and dynamic capabilities such as innovation and entrepreneurship and their impact on performance in high involvement Mexican exporting firms.
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Introduction Perhaps the most significant economic transformation within the last three decades has been the internationalization of business. From the modest levels of the 1950s…
Abstract
Introduction Perhaps the most significant economic transformation within the last three decades has been the internationalization of business. From the modest levels of the 1950s, the volume of world trade has exploded to over $2 trillion, and the sales of foreign affiliates of US firms have reached $500 billion by 1983 (Terpstra 1983). Yet, even in the light of accelerated efforts to further stimulate US exporters (e.g., the Export Trading Company Act of 1982), a recent Dunn and Bradstreet survey showed that less than 1% of the US firms had engaged in exporting in 1982 (Trade Marks, 1983). Similarly, the International Trade Administration of the US Department of Commerce has lamented that only 5% of all US manufacturers will have engaged in export marketing in 1984.
Managers' perceptions of exporting are shown to have a critical influence on firm export performance in this study of machine tool manufacturers in the US and Canada. Of special…
Abstract
Managers' perceptions of exporting are shown to have a critical influence on firm export performance in this study of machine tool manufacturers in the US and Canada. Of special importance are managers' perceptions of the advantages of exporting over domestic sales, especially perceptions of export‐related growth opportunities. Perceptions of the complexities associated with exporting and managers' work experience overseas are also shown to be related to the percentage of sales a firm obtains by exporting. Possible explanations of these findings are suggested and several implications are discussed.
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This paper aims to investigate firm‐level interactions between productivity and exporting in Uganda's manufacturing sector.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate firm‐level interactions between productivity and exporting in Uganda's manufacturing sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper empirically tested two hypotheses that relate to the dynamic gains from trade and also have tended to dominate the literature; self‐selection and learning‐by‐exporting hypotheses. It employs proxies of self‐selection and learning‐by‐exporting obtained from indices of path dependence to fit maximum likelihood estimates of export behavior.
Findings
The results provide support for both hypotheses and it is also found that more experienced exporters reap more productivity gains from learning effects which is in line with the view that knowledge spillovers to exporting firms increase with the level of interaction in the global market place. Thus, learning‐by‐exporting is not a “short term” occurrence which takes place only in the first few years of entry in export markets after which it would fizzle out as a firm's exporting experience increases but rather, it is a cumulative process.
Practical implications
This paper generates a number of insights that can guide policy makers in designing policies to promote firm productivity growth that is an engine of growth in the private sector and by extension, would fuel up overall economic growth and poverty reduction.
Originality/value
Previous studies on exports and growth in Uganda have been basically focused on macro‐data analysis; yet, promoting rapid expansion of manufactured exports may require more than just a good macroeconomic policy environment. This study fills the research gap by relating firm‐level productivity performance to the microeconomic environment in which manufacturing firms operate.
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Saeed Samiee, Peter G.P. Walters and Frank L. DuBois
Examines the characteristics of firms which undertake exportingunder their own volition and in the absence of external stimuli. In thiscontext, internally‐induced export…
Abstract
Examines the characteristics of firms which undertake exporting under their own volition and in the absence of external stimuli. In this context, internally‐induced export initiation is viewed as an innovative behaviour. The classification scheme employed in this study has a high degree of internal and discriminant validity with successful classification of 86 per cent of innovative firms by the resultant discriminant model. The findings indicate that innovative firms do not vary significantly with regard to general firm characteristics from other exporters, but that they do vary significantly with regard to critical export‐related activities. Innovative firms consider exporting an ongoing activity, have greater export proportion of sales and average export order size, make greater use of export information, and tend to use different sources of data from other exporting firms. In addition, they are more likely to maintain export‐specific organizations.
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Paul Westhead, Deniz Ucbasaran and Martin Binks
This study explores whether there are differences between established “rural” and “urban” SMEs with regard to the decision to sell goods or services abroad. Several hypotheses…
Abstract
This study explores whether there are differences between established “rural” and “urban” SMEs with regard to the decision to sell goods or services abroad. Several hypotheses were formulated and tested. In 1990/1991, survey responses were gathered from 621 independent businesses located in the UK. In 1997, a follow‐on telephone survey was conducted with 150 surviving firms. Urban exporting SMEs reported superior performance to urban non‐exporting SMEs in 1997. Rural and urban SMEs, however, did not significantly differ from each other with regard to the reasons cited for not exporting, the reasons cited for exporting, and the modes of entry into the largest current foreign market selected by exporters. Nevertheless, some rural SMEs had circumvented local resource constraints and entered foreign markets by engaging in networking. Implications for policy‐makers, practitioners and researchers are highlighted.
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Chandan Sharma and Ritesh Kumar Mishra
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nexus between export participation and productivity performance of transport manufacturing firms in India, for the period 1994‐2006.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nexus between export participation and productivity performance of transport manufacturing firms in India, for the period 1994‐2006.
Design/methodology/approach
The relative performance of exporting vis‐à‐vis non‐exporting firms in the industry is examined by utilizing a semi‐parametric test based on the principle of first order stochastic dominance. Subsequently, the causal relation between export and productivity is tested by mainly focusing on learning‐by‐exporting and self‐selection hypotheses.
Findings
The authors' results suggest that productivity performance of firms does not directly affect the probability of exporting. However, the results do provide some evidence which indicates that good firms self‐select into the export market. Furthermore, it was also found that sunk costs of exporting are the key determinants of probability of exporting in the industry. Finally, the authors tested the effect of exporting on productivity and found that past exporting experience or history has a significant and positive impact on firms' productivity.
Practical implications
In the light of the findings of this study, it can be suggested that the trade policy in India should focus on encouraging firms to increase export participation. At the same time, the authors' evidence also advocates that the economic policies should also aim on technology enhancement (i.e. more incentive for R&D activities and training) of firms, to help them achieve higher levels of productivity and efficiency, which in turn will increase the probability of their survival in the highly‐competitive international export market.
Originality/value
The paper provides new evidence on the export‐productivity nexus from the Indian manufacturing industry by testing the empirical validity of the learning‐by‐exporting and self‐selection hypotheses, along with the role of sunk costs in export decisions of firms.
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Khalil Al‐Hyari, Ghazi Al‐Weshah and Muhammed Alnsour
This study aims to identify some of the major barriers that may hinder potential small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) exporters and non‐exporters from exporting their operations…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify some of the major barriers that may hinder potential small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) exporters and non‐exporters from exporting their operations in the international market.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the aim of this study, a questionnaire based survey method was conducted among 250 Jordanian manufacturing SMEs using random sampling with usable response rate of 54 per cent. Data were analysed using relevant statistical methods ranging from factor analysis to regression analysis.
Findings
The results show that economic/political‐legal and governmental barriers, financial and information barriers have a significant negative relationship with the export performance of SMEs in Jordan. Also, the results show that exporters and non‐exporters significantly agree in their views of the various barriers.
Research limitations/implications
The study was carried out on SMEs operating in Jordan. Hence, caution should be taken when generalisation across cultures is considered. However, the findings of the study provide public and company policy makers with valuable guidelines for the formulation of suitable export marketing strategies and national export assistance programs.
Originality/value
This is ascribed to the relatively small local market size and to the country's gradual shift from heavy reliance on import substitution strategies in the last two decades to contemporary export orientation. Also, there is now a need for an urgent action plan to correct the deficit in the trade balance in the Jordanian economy. This action plan needs to include what causes Jordanian SMEs to export or prevents them from doing so. Once the relative importance of these barriers is detected, their validity in predicting the probability of a SME firm being an exporter can be tested.
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