Learning-by-exporting effects on innovative performance: empiric study results

Abstract

This work examines the effects of learning-by-exporting on the innovative performance of a company. Innovations are considered both in the context of organisational and technological innovations. The following hypotheses are tested: the hypothesis on the increase in the performance of innovation activities as a result of a firm’s entry into foreign markets; the hypothesis on the importance of sustainable and long-term exports to improve the productivity of industrial companies; and the hypothesis on the impact of operation in developed or emerging markets on the innovative performance of industrial companies in Russia. The panel data of companies from three sectors of the manufacturing industry are used: high-, medium-, and low-tech. The result of the work is the established dependence of the increase in the performance of companies in high- and medium-tech industries on the company’s investments in new technologies, and the dependence of the increase in the performance of companies in low-tech industries on the introduction of organisational and managerial innovations. In addition, it has been shown that the influence of learning-by-exporting on the innovative performance depends on the industry affiliation of firms rather than on the geographical direction of exports (developed or emerging markets).