Determinants of export behavior in the Greek manufacturing sector

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of export performance of firms in the Greek manufacturing industry, using cross-sectional data from 1652 firms in 1999 and a Tobit regression model. The study finds that firms that have larger size, lower unit labor cost and low capital to labor ratio have a higher propensity to export, confirming the fact that in Greece, which has the second lowest capital to labor ratio among the EU-15 members, export activities are concentrated among firms with low capital intensity, exactly as the theory of competitive advantage would predict.