What makes a successful exporter? An introduction

• Author: Davide Castellani,Črt Kostevc,Jože Damijan
• Published date: 01 May 2020
• Date: 01 May 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/twec.12936

1148

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wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/twec World Econ. 2020;43:1148–1150.

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Received: 19 December 2019

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Accepted: 2 January 2020

DOI: 10.1111/twec.12936

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

What makes a successful exporter? An introduction

DavideCastellani1

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JožeDamijan2,3

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ČrtKostevc2,3

1Henley Business School, University of Reading, Reading, UK

2School of Business and Economics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

3KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

KEYWORDS

Export performance, propensity to export

Two decades after the breakthrough study by Bernard and Jensen (1999) on the link between trade

and firm heterogeneity, the research on this topic continues to flourish. The empirical curiosity of the

early research mainly focused on the nexus of export status and firm productivity. While the issue of

the cause of exporter productivity premia remains hotly debated, the field has expanded far beyond

this puzzle. Buoyed by improved access to firm-level data and increasingly also transaction-level data,

the literature is now addressing trade- and investment-related issues that were deemed inconceivable

only a few short years ago. While theoretical contributions (e.g., Chaney, 2016; Mayer, Melitz, &

Ottaviano, 2014; Melitz, 2003; Melitz & Ottaviano, 2008) help underpin the empirical work, the

literature remains driven by an ever-expanding array of empirical questions and as well as a growing

ability to answer them.

ISGEP's (International Study Group on Exports and Productivity) is a result of the early recogni-

tion of the importance and potential of firm-level research into trade as well as the wide international

appeal of the topic. The brainchild of Joachim Wagner, ISGEP's evolution, has mirrored that of the

empirical literature at large. It quickly outgrew its initial objective to provide internationally compara-

ble estimates of exporter premia (see International Study Group on Exports & Productivity, 2008) and

began serving as a forum for researchers on a variety of issues related to firm-level internationalisation

research. Annual ISGEP workshops have become one of the key stops both for European and other

international researchers.

The papers in this issue continue with the tradition of adding puzzles pieces to the overall picture

of the impact and importance of firm international activities. In "What makes a successful exporter?",

we have collected twelve papers, the majority of which were presented at the 13th annual ISGEP

workshop in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 20–21 September 2018. The common thread linking these papers

is that they explore both what it means to be an exporter and the ramifications of exporting on firms

and the economy as a whole. On the one hand, this special issue addresses the role of foreign sourc-

ing, export experience in the board of directors and credit supply shocks on the propensity to export,

as well as the factors that affect firms' overall readiness to export. On the other hand, it investigates

various measures of performance in the export markets, such as export duration, markups, quality

upgrading and product mix.