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Exporting industrial SMEs in Colombia: an analysis of their real activity

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Listed:
  • Fernando Mesa Parra

    (Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano)

  • Raúl Torres Salamanca

    (Escuela Colombiana de Ingeniería)

Abstract

This paper examines why some small and medium enterprises, or SMEs, export while others do not, even when they face similar macroeconomic and trade policy situations. With this aim, the difference between SMEs that are exporters and those that are not during the period 2000-2012 is analysed statistically. The analysis confirms the modest orientation of Colombia’s industrial structure towards international markets. The SMEs that exported grew more in terms of industrial production than the non-exporting ones; in addition, they exhibited the greatest levels of capital and total number of employees. The hypothesis on pre-selection of SMEs to export according to labour productivity levels is also verified. Likewise, the companies that recorded the highest levels of productivity also presented the highest probabilities of exporting, although this probability registered a decreasing trend in the period analysed. The probability to export was also affected positively by those firms that did it in the past

Suggested Citation

  • Fernando Mesa Parra & Raúl Torres Salamanca, 2019. "Exporting industrial SMEs in Colombia: an analysis of their real activity," Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía, issue 90, pages 127-157, Enero - J.
    • Handle: RePEc:lde:journl:y:2019:i:90:p:127-157
    DOI: 10.17533/udea.le.n90a05
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brooks, Eileen L., 2006. "Why don't firms export more? Product quality and Colombian plants," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 160-178, June.
    2. Yoguel, Gabriel & Milesi, Darío & Moori Koenig, Virginia & Robert, Verónica, 2007. "Desarrollo de ventajas competitivas: PYMEs exportadoras exitosas en Argentina, Chile y Colombia," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    models of trade with imperfect competition; economies of scale; empirical studies of trade; heterogenous firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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