A EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SMALL EXPORTING AND NON‐EXPORTING US FIRMS

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.