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Efficient distribution has a considerable influence on the sales volume of firms, and thus affects the firms' research and development (R&D) activities. This paper analyzes the relationship between competition in the transport sector and R&D of firms using the transportation services. We consider a two-region reciprocal market in which firms invest in cost-reducing R&D and use carriers that engage in price competition to supply their products to the foreign market. We show that, corresponding to the degree of R&D spillover, a transport cost (or price) reduction due to an increase in the number of carriers can increase or decrease the firms' R&D investments. This result is consistent with the finding in previous studies that trade liberalization can hinder R&D. Because inefficient firms lead to high prices in the market, an increase in the number of carriers may reduce consumer surplus. We further discuss a case in which firms have monopsony power in transportation services and show that our main results are robust to the extension.

In recent years, globalization roles, the rapid development of communication technologies, easier access to information sources, the existence of manager's networks in international markets, and organization dynamic capabilities find out early and rapid internationalization as being international from inception or near their founding. When the studies dealing with the rapid and early internationalization process are examined, it is seen that they have carried out for manufacturing firms in particular produced high-tech products. But, especially health care business studies are rare. However, it is rare to work on businesses that provide healthcare services. In this study, Liv Hospital, which provides healthcare services and became international rapidly following its establishment, is examined as a case study. In this study, Liv Hospital, which provides healthcare services and became international in a short time following its establishment, will be examined as a case study. In conclusion, it is seen that Liv Hospital became international following its establishment, thanks to the international vision of its managers and their goals to be a leader in the foreign market. Business networks are one of the factors that facilitate early and rapid internationalization processes. Business networks of managers have also been efficient in the internationalization process of Liv Hospital. Therefore, internal and external factors that a business has an effective in early and rapid internationalization.

Today's economic environment is rapidly changing, forcing companies to expand internationally. Foreign market entry has now become a well-studied topic among academics. When a firm enters a foreign market, crucial strategic decisions such as international market selection and entry mode selection must be made, and members of the management team are entrusted with making these complicated judgments that will set the company's path. There have been many studies showings that developing the strong strategies for entering to the market and based on this creating powerful marketing strategies can help company to succeed in the competitive market. SWOT analysis and interviews of Lada managers are used to comprehend the strategies of the LADA company used to enter Uzbek market and to ensure reliability of the findings.

The article discusses the problems of damage during storage, processing and use of wool fibers used in the carpet industry. The role of bacteria and microscopic fungus in fiber damage has been shown. These indicators include: the cost of raw materials and production costs for its processing, elastic properties, ease of processing, profiled cross-section, the bulk, which is achieved due to the large thickness and the method of dyeing. The main criteria for carpets of the third group, i.e. Researchers Negin and Mumford consider the indicators characterizing the average cost of one square meter, taking into account their service life, of carpets supplied for the foreign market.

This study examines the effect of external credit on the export decision of manufacturing firms in Nigeria using the 2014 World Bank Enterprise Surveys data. The paper employs an instrumental variable (IV) probit model to assess the empirical relations. The results reveal that both bank and nonbank credit positively and significantly drive firms' foreign market entry decision in Nigeria. Policy interventions should therefore be directed at creating an enabling environment that would stimulate an increase in the breadth and depth of financial presence across Nigeria. This may be done through offering special tax reliefs to banks and nonbank financial institutions that seek to expand. Banks should also be encouraged to invest in innovative strategies such as branchless banking and mobile banking which have the capability to increase access without the huge cost outlays for physical infrastructure. They should further be encouraged to develop special ‘export credit packages’ for smaller but viable firms that are willing to go into exporting but lack the necessary collateral, and create special ‘task forces’ to monitor and redeem such loans when they fall due. The Government should also channel ‘export development credit’ through banks and nonbank financial institutions to manufacturing firms in Nigeria for efficient allocation, monitoring and collection.

The paper analyzes the dynamics and structure of trade interaction between Chinese regions and Russia using official Chinese data and assesses the border effects for export and import flows. The analysis shows that Chinese imports from Russia exhibit a much more uneven distribution across Chinese regions than exports. The results of the gravity model estimation indicate that the size of the border effect for exports of Chinese regions to Russia was larger compared to trade barriers with other countries. At the same time, the hurdles impeding the access of Russian production to Chinese regional markets expressed in the ad-valorem tariff equivalent were higher than for other countries. The estimates reveal that Russian exports to Chinese regions have been experiencing higher barriers in recent years than Chinese regional exports to Russia. The findings suggest that leveling barriers would reinforce the access of Chinese coastal regions to the Russian market, making exports to Russia even less evenly distributed across Chinese regions. A substantial reduction of barriers is likely to increase Russian imports in China thanks to the growing flows of Russian goods to virtually all Chinese regions. Accordingly, Russian exporters need to diversify their supply across Chinese regions so as to bypass the middlemen and tap new regional markets in China

The evaluation of the Russian oil and gas companies’ competitiveness in the foreign market under the tough market conditions is of particular importance as it is crucial to retain company’s current position and market share. The article makes qualitative and quantitative evaluation of Russian companies in the global gas market. To analyze the competitiveness of the gas industry company in the foreign market, the authors used a dynamic method of evaluating competitiveness coupled with a SWOT analysis. The dynamic evaluation method offers an opportunity to identify the basic factors that influenced the level of competitiveness of the entity under study and, accordingly, determine the main reserves for increasing its competitiveness. Based on the study conducted, recommendations were made on the increase in competitiveness in the current situation of unstable demand and volatile energy prices. By analyzing the PJSC Gazprom level of competitiveness, as well as its external and internal environment, indicators were identified the regulation of which will lead to the progressive development of the organization and increase in its competitiveness. The practical relevance of the study lies in the possibility to use both the research outcome and the proposed methods in a development strategy for the gas industry company.Keywords: advantages, competitiveness management, SWOT-analysis, oil and gas companies.JEL Classifications: L10, F23, N70DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.10275

During the period spanning independence in 1822 to mid-century, Brazil’s south-east shifted from specializing in the export of cane sugar to coffee. This article explores the mechanism underlying this shift by exploiting a wealth of new monthly data on the Brazilian and international coffee and cane sugar markets during the period 1827– 40. It argues that the timing of the coffee boom was driven by a rapid increase in foreign market potential associated with the abolition of the tariff on coffee in the US. It estimates that American tariff reform served to increase coffee exports and African slave imports by around one-fifth. American firms, wi th in direct li nks to th e slave trade, rapidly became major players in the export market in Rio de Janeiro, while non-American firms, t raditionally s pecialized in c ontinental European destinations, turned their sights on the American market.

Survival in a foreign market is not always the same as in the home market. This study examines interaction effects between cultural distance, country risk, entry mode, firm age, investment location...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the intersection of research into international marketing (IM) and the internet, seeking areas where knowledge is developing, and where further research is required. Design/methodology/approach The study utilizes an integrative review of the extant literature. Findings The study identifies the role of the internet as a tool for competitive advantage and internationalization. In considering these aspects of the internet within IM, the necessity for establishing a foreign market presence is also examined. Further, it is asserted that the internet’s influence on internationalization is largely through exporting of products and digital services. Originality/value The paper offers a new perspective on the issues emerging in the literature in terms of IM and the internet, and identifies new avenues for future research.

In this paper we will show the importance and importance of the right combination of marketing instruments (products, prices, promotions and distribution) that affect the business performance of export-oriented companies. At the same time, it is indisputable that a good combination of the above mentioned marketing instruments has a stimulating influence on the movement of the basic parameters of the business of export-oriented companies. Also, each of the marketing mix instruments individually contributes to the business excellence of the company. The right combination of these instruments certainly leads to the success of the organization, but the real problem is determining what combination it is. That is, every business is in the dilemma of how much importance it attaches to some of the instruments of the marketing mix. The situation is particularly complicated by the fact that the results of the combination, that is, its success can only be viewed ex post, which is likely then. Organizations need prior key information in order for marketing instruments to act ex ante with the intention of creating the right mix of marketing mix instruments to market in a foreign market.

Recently, competition has been rapidly increasing in the IT sphere, so a competently constructed system of communications with stakeholders becomes a very important advantage for companies. Depending on the size of the company, the type of business and the scale of activity for each group, it is necessary to choose an individual approach to interaction. The article is concerned with a comprehensive study of the problems of processes of developing corporate communications with stakeholders of IT-industry enterprises. The main groups for external and internal types of stakeholders for the companies in the IT sphere, features of interaction and developing corporate communications with them are examined. To implement positive strategic changes in staff management, it is important to take into account both the interests and contradictions of stakeholders. In practical activity, the interests of almost all groups of staff are most often in contradiction with the interests of management and owners. Hence the elaboration of problems of increasing interest and leveling contradictions becomes significant aspects of cooperation of all stakeholders, despite the different conditions and countries of business operation. It is necessary to interact with stakeholders based on the company’s strategy and competently build an understandable communication strategy with them. The publication involves determining the points of interaction and coincidence of the interests of all participants in the management and development processes. The proposed algorithm for determining and adopting effective strategic changes in communication management can be used in the foreign market. The efficiency of the organization depends on how well the interaction with stakeholders is built. Interaction with stakeholders helps the organization to increase social capital, minimize non-financial risks, and identify new opportunities for the company’s development.

Quando a Gestão Estratégica de Custos (GEC) está alinhada com a estratégia da empresa as organizações tendem a apresentar um maior desempenho. A partir da relevância das questões relacionadas ao tema, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar a relação existente entre as práticas da Gestão Estratégica de Custos e a atuação no mercado externo com o desempenho econômico-financeiro nas empresas metalmecânicas, automotivas e eletroeletrônicas da Serra Gaúcha. Como procedimento metodológico, foi utilizada pesquisa exploratória, descritiva e quantitativa. O levantamento das informações foi realizado através de uma survey. A população foi composta por 367 empresas de pequeno, médio e grande porte. Obteve-se uma amostra de 87 empresas. Os dados foram analisados por meio da Análise Fatorial Exploratória e Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Nas análises das hipóteses os resultados indicam a existência de relação significativa entre a utilização das práticas da GEC e o desempenho econômico-financeiro.

A core question regarding the increasing share of international trade in financial services is whether this causes banks to take more or fewer risks. We study this issue in a setting where two multinational banks engage in duopoly competition for their lending in two regional markets. Each bank affiliate can choose both the lending volume and the level of monitoring, and hence risk-taking, where the risk of bank failure is partly borne by taxpayers in the bank affiliate's host country. Governments choose minimum capital requirements to optimally solve the trade-off between higher lending volumes and consumer surplus, and the expected tax losses faced by taxpayers. In this setting we consider two types of financial integration. A reduction in the transaction costs of cross-border banking increases risk-taking by banks, harming taxpayers and potentially overall welfare. In contrast, a reduction in the costs of screening foreign firms reduces banks' risk-taking and is beneficial for consumers and taxpayers alike.

Purpose This study aims to find empirical evidence on the effect of cross-border acquisition (CBA) on the financial leverage of the acquirer from Asia. It also examines the moderating role of the target countries (developed or developing countries) and experience of the acquirer in the foreign market on the relationship between CBA and financial leverage. Design/methodology/approach This study uses pooled data regression using 1,073 acquisition transactions by Asian Acquirer from 2012 to 2014. Findings The results show that before the acquisition, the leverage level of CBA firms is higher than the domestic acquisition firms and after the acquisition. CBA firms increase their leverage. This study also shows that the increasing leverage post the CBA is lower if the target comes from developed countries rather than developing countries and acquirer’s experience in international activities does not affect the impact of CBA on acquirer’s post-acquisition financial leverage. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the impact of CBA on leverage in the context of Asian countries. By contrast, most of the Asian countries are developing countries, and the institutional environment across countries in Asia is different from developed countries from other regions.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of fiscal policy in Kosovo, comparing with the Western Balkan countries, in the trends of economic development, which are related to the international market, and how to achieve the objectives of the economy of Kosovo, penetrating the foreign market of local companies, using fiscal policy instruments. Data processing is performed using deductive-analytical methods, describing and comparing research findings by commercial companies, extracting data and comparing official reports of national and international institutions on the role of policies analyzed in the Western Balkan countries and in Kosovo, and the results of the research are based on these analyzes. Each sovereign state has its own fiscal policy operating within the financial system of that country, which also influences the development trends of international trade, the same applies to Kosovo and the Western Balkan countries, where this policy includes customs tax, VAT, tax in personal income, etc. The government of the country, through fiscal policy instruments, creates conditions for companies to be as present in the foreign market as possible with their products, which impacts on the overall economic development of the country. achieved. The paper provides insights into the state of the fiscal system in Kosovo, how fiscal policy affects the creation of conditions for foreign trade development, where is Kosovo's economy is in relation to the Western Balkan countries and what are the steps needed to improve it. The paper provides real data on the state of the fiscal system in Kosovo and its full role in the development of foreign trade in relation to the Western Balkan countries.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer an integrative model of foreign market learning, including different learning processes, antecedents and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The paper makes a critical review of the relevant literature, drawing on a keywords-based search of three major databases and a range of other published work for a broader perspective on the subject. Findings The resulting integrative model shows in a number of ways how companies can learn and benefit from differences in foreign markets and what results this can lead to. Research limitations/implications The sample of subject-specific contributions to the literature may have been insufficient, and a wider selection of keywords to identify them might have captured a richer variety of concepts and opinions. Originality/value The integrative model contributes to the literature on foreign market learning and innovation and serves as a basis for future studies and current management strategy.

Foreign market entry is important in market development. We examine entry timing/mode, investment, advertising, location, and interactive effects. Early entrants enjoy a high market share. The type...

Companies implementing a strategy based on entering foreign markets have to make a decision on choosing an adequate international distribution channels. Well implemented international distribution system in export-oriented companies can help them improve their competitiveness and better position their products in foreign markets. It is for this reason that the subject of this research paper is to analyze the factors of international distribution from the aspect of international business strategy of SMEs. The research conducted covered various factors related to international distribution strategies such as the ability to deliver international goods quickly and continuously, the established adequate international distribution network, the ability to respond quickly to international partners orders and the effective management of international distributors or agents. The survey was conducted in 50 companies that export various types of products on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. The results of the regression analysis indicate that an adequate distribution network has an impact on sales volume and foreign market share, so that we can conclude that the proper selection of an appropriate distribution network can contribute to enhancing the export potential of the company.

Export-manufacturing firms survive and ultimately succeed when they can accumulate, harvest, and utilize foreign knowledge to better marshal their capabilities to recognize opportunities. Prior studies are replete with a single solution by combining foreign market knowledge (FMK) and firm performance. Separately, opportunity recognition capabilities have been found efficacious to the performance. A shift from contingent theory to the configurational approach suggests that there are multiple solutions available to achieve intended outcomes. Based on the equifinality assumption, we configure FMK in conjunction with opportunity recognition capabilities to predict performance. In total, 382 export-manufacturing firms were investigated by employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and necessary condition analysis (NCA). Salient findings suggest that young firms achieve superior performance from foreign business and institutional knowledge by enhancing opportunity exploration capability; whereas, mature firms succeed from internationalization knowledge and nurturing opportunity exploitation capability. The study is one of which that contributes to the methodology by introducing fsQCA and NCA in the knowledge management literature.

Based on a sample of 114,098 investments committed by 12,258 limited partners into 20,473 private equity funds, we study an international home bias in fund manager selection in private equity. We find that limited partners overweigh their investments with fund managers domiciled in the same geographical region by 45% on average. The home bias in local fund manager selection holds across investor types, fund characteristics as well as market regions. Investments committed with locally domiciled fund managers are not only being overweighed, but also perform better than investments with fund managers domiciled in foreign market regions. We argue that limited partners benefit from information advantages and better fund access when selecting private equity funds within their home market region.

International entrepreneurship, which means the development of the local market to the foreign market, is a key driver for the growth of the firm and gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. A review of the literature shows that few studies have addressed the dynamic capabilities of international entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of international networking capability on the firm’s international performance by considering the mediating role of dynamic entrepreneurial capabilities (foreign market knowledge capability, adaptive capability, and international entrepreneurial opportunity recognition capability). The population of this research is Iranian software development companies including members of the Iranian Informatics Association, the Association of Iranian Mobile Application Developers, and the Association of Iranian Software Developers and Exporters. A total of 200 firms were selected as the final sample of this study. This research is a cross-sectional survey in which the data collected are analysed using the SEM-PLS approach. The results of this study indicate that although international networking capability has a positive effect on foreign market knowledge capability, adaptive capability, and international entrepreneurial opportunity recognition capability, its direct impact on the firm’s international performance is not confirmed. Besides, based on the results, foreign market knowledge capability, adaptive capability, and international entrepreneurial opportunity recognition capability have a positive and favourable effect on a firm’s international performance. The implications of this research will help firm managers to identify and develop the capabilities needed for international entrepreneurship.

Using European Central Bank restricted-access biannual data on European small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over the period 2014–2017, we analyze the impact that innovation, financial constraints, and an efficient regulatory environment exert on the probability of switching from the status of nonexporter to exporter and vice versa. We find that either the use of finance for innovation or undertaking product innovation increases the likelihood of starting to export and lowers the likelihood of stopping exporting. Although SMEs’ financial frictions are negligible for foreign market entry, they matter for increasing the probability of exiting. We also document that a friendly regulatory environment is conducive to start—but not to stop—exporting. Our findings provide empirical support for the recent European Commission policies on both SMEs’ internationalization and access to finance.

The article is devoted to the study of the export potential of agricultural products and their competitiveness in the foreign market. The peculiarities and dynamics of changes in the export and import of agro-food products are revealed and the main directions of development of the industry are taken into account, including the factors of global influence. The internal agrarian market by the level of provision of agricultural products, as well as the external market by the volume of export and import of agrarian products in Ukraine is investigated. The article substantiates and systematizes the indicator and competitiveness of agricultural food products. A comparative analysis of indices of relative competitive advantages for certain types of agricultural products, which provide an opportunity to assess their competitiveness in the global agricultural market was conducted.

We estimate the impact of the tariffs that U.S. export crops face on farmland rental rates. The estimation of the impact of the localized measure on the rents faces two aggregation problems that lead to identification challenges: a) aggregating tariffs across trading partners to obtain crop-specific tariffs, and b) aggregating the crop-specific tariffs across crops to obtain the localized measure. Utilizing shift-share style approaches, we find that a one percent increase in the localized tariff reduces the rents by about 2.6 - 5.3% point, which implies that the 2018 Chinese retaliatory tariffs would reduce the rents by about 2%.

To assist Ecuadorian chia seed producers in their quest for internationalisation. This article uses a case study to present a methodology which assists in the selection of the most suitable export market for a product. It is based on a diverse range of indicators grouped into 7 dimensions that were used to analyse the 27 member countries of the European Union in order to determine the most suitable export market for chia seeds from Ecuador. Germany is the biggest European importer of chia seeds with a 55% share, followed by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Spain. It presents a methodology for market selection that can be employed as a tool for international expansion which can easily be used by companies in search of the most suitable export market for their products.

This paper develops and estimates a dynamic model of exporting to quantify how productivity and uncertain foreign demand separately influence firms' export participation. In this model, firms face uncertainty about their own foreign demand, and they update their beliefs based on individual export transactions according to Bayes' rule. I estimate the model using data on firm-level production and transaction-level exports to Germany in the Chinese ceramics and glass industry. The empirical results show substantial heterogeneity in productivity and demand belief. For experienced firms, productivity is the major driving force of export participation. In contrast, for potential entrants, demand learning plays a more important role. A counterfactual exercise suggests that trade cost reduction has a significant impact on stimulating the export participation of potential entrants. Importantly, more than half of the participation increase is attributed to firms' endogenous reaction to demand learning in the foreign market.

We estimate how a rise in uncertainty about future tariff rates impacts firm decisions to enter into and exit from export markets. Using Chinese customs transactions between 2000 and 2009, we exploit time-variation in product-level trade policy and find that Chinese firms are less likely to enter new foreign markets and more likely to exit from established foreign markets when their products are subject to increased trade policy uncertainty. Our analysis is based on the phenomenon of “tariff echoing” – after a tariff hike in one country, another country is likely to raise its tariff on the same product. Overall, we find that if there had been no trade policy uncertainty created by the use of contingent tariffs, Chinese entry into foreign markets would have been roughly 2% higher per year. We use our model to counterfactually estimate how much entry by Chinese firms over 2001–2009 was due to future trade policy certainty provided by membership in the WTO.

Huge percentage of population are engaged in cultivation of crops in India, that is the reason our economy is known as the agrarian economy. Looking at the importance of this sector the empirical study has been done on one of the agriculture crop that is ‘garlic’ which is exported by India and is the second largest producer after china it earns very good in international markets. The aim of this paper is to explore the importance of this agriculture crop (garlic) which earns a lot and become one of the main cash crop for poor farmers and also help our country to regulate the maximum share of foreign markets. It is now need of hour that government should take good care of all the cultivators of garlic and provide financial support, subsides, minimum support price by which farmers cultivate this crop more efficiently by which our economy generates well.

Vietnam's textile and garment industry has been developing strongly and plays an increasingly important role in economic growth of the country. This industry also has a great impact on Vietnam's socio-economic development. At the same time, the textile and garment industry employs more than 1.6 million people, accounting for more than 12% of the industrial workforce and nearly 5% of the country's total labor force. This article aims to provide an overview of the Vietnam’s textile and garment industry and the vision of Vietnam's textile and garment industry to 2030. The results show that Vietnam’s textile and garment industry has contributed great value to Vietnam’s exports and GDP as well as solving employment. However, the Vietnam’s textile and garment industry still has some limitations. First, the mode of production is mainly based on the CMT (the mode of production produces the lowest added value). Second, the incomes and capacities of the labors have not matched with the development of the industry. Third, the size of enterprises is small, so the competitiveness of Vietnam’s textile and garment industry is limited in the international arena.

How does international trade affect the exchange rate exposure of firms? Trade induces greater economic exposure to exchange rate volatility. But more diversification in trade destinations and foreign supply and demand strategies may offer financial risk reduction depending on market conditions. In this paper, we focus on the role of trade and offer an integrated analysis on measuring and explaining exchange rate exposure. Using Dutch firm-level weekly data from 2011 to 2015, we find that: (1) distinguishable communities of firms based on their exchange rate exposure exist; (2) under varying market conditions, buying from and selling to foreign and more diverse markets is a way for firms to reduce exchange rate exposure; (3) firms that hedge during market downturns experience less exchange rate exposure. Our findings provide new insights for policy makers and investors interested in exchange rate exposure (measurement and drivers).

This paper studies how enhanced tourism affects trade and FDI. Our analysis is distinct because interactions among tourism, trade, and FDI are examined comprehensively by relating the research on tourism-FDI relationships with the different trade-FDI relationships. The analysis uses bilateral data (i.e., inbound tourism, imports, and inward FDI) between Japan and 29 countries/areas during 1996–2011. Our analysis shows that the relative importance of inward FDI on imports increases with a rising number of inbound foreign tourists. The results suggest the effectiveness of policy instruments related to trade and FDI promotion, and that stimulating foreign tourism should be evaluated comprehensively, but not independently.

How much do countries in Africa benefit from their neighbours’ growth? This paper shows that neighbouring growth increases a country’s ‘foreign market access’ (FMA)—boosting export demand and increasing local output. Using luminosity data to exploit within-country variation, I find that between 1992 and 2012 domestic output responded to increases in FMA with an elasticity in the range 0.3 to 0.6. By reducing trade costs, countries can increase their FMA, and so increase the spillover of neighbouring growth into domestic growth.

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) provides a unique setting to study innovativeness and customer orientation in forest sector firms. Considerable research has focused generally on innovativeness in forest sector firms, but little attention has been given to the actions of firms to the chaotic market environment during the GFC. Our objective is to clarify how a customer orientation and the practice of developing new markets during a market downturn results in enhanced knowledge-based resources, manifested as increased innovativeness. Our longitudinal design includes data representing 2012 and 2015 from 89, US-based forest sector firms. Responding firms are more focused on process than product innovativeness. During the GFC, responding firms concentrated more on foreign market development than on domestic market development. Firms with a stronger customer orientation in response to the GFC realized higher innovativeness post-GFC. Also, firms actively developing new foreign markets in response to the GFC realized higher process innovativeness. Our results support a stronger customer focus for forest sector firms as it translates to increased innovativeness and potentially improved product development. In addition, allocating resources to foreign market development during financial downturns can be a strategy to build innovativeness.

This study identifies a gap in research concerning how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from pursuing locally (rather than globally) oriented internationalization strategies. Becoming overly dependent on one single foreign market could potentially reduce the inflow and diversity of new knowledge that can serve as input for new product development. This study discusses how this risk can be minimized. In this endeavour we create a theoretical model that investigates how the local sales concentration and relationship-specific commitment of SMEs relates to new product development. To do this we draw on the behavioural internationalization process framework. The theoretical model is tested on an effective sample of 188 Swedish SMEs. The results show that relationship-specific commitment mediates the effect of local sales concentration on new product development. The implication is that investments which enable collaboration in important business relationships are crucial requisites for keeping firms innovative and in pace with market fluctuations. The findings thus contribute to international business literature by showing that a local market scope of operations combined with a relationship orientation are beneficial for new product development in international SMEs.

In contrast with quotas and tariffs, it is theoretically ambiguous whether fewer (or ‘weaker’) rules over intellectual property rights will increase or decrease trade in patentable goods. The prevailing view is that anticipation of imitation reduces exporters' incentive to export goods to jurisdictions with ‘weak’ patent regimes. This empirical paper uses new measures of how the destination-country patent system can affect trade. In contrast with existing studies which assume would-be exporters can always get a patent in the target foreign market, we construct measures of the bias against foreign patent applicants and patents which may block imported goods. We find evidence that the presence of destination-country blocking patents has the larger (negative) impact on international trade. Being refused a patent also has a negative impact on trade but the magnitude is smaller.

A standard finding is that risk exposures of companies that cross-list tend to increase against the market in which they list, a change typically associated with a decline in the cost of capital. However, this finding is predicated on the assumption that the home and foreign market co-movements are stable over time. By contrast, another common finding is that risk exposures across market indices have increased over time due to international market integration. In this paper, I ask whether the firm-level findings for changing risk exposures are due to the more general changes in market co-movements. Indeed, for a panel of cross-listed firms in the U.S., I find that 72% do not find evidence of breaks in their relationships beyond those derived from their home markets. This finding suggests that the apparent increase in risk exposures for cross-listed firms arises from general market integration trends. Moreover, the remaining 28% of firms tend to have significant breaks after cross-listing, be younger, and have home markets with lower government regulation.

It is widely accepted that when firms enter a foreign market, they face considerable challenges and incur additional costs relative to indigenous firms. This liability of foreignness phenomenon is a consequence of many things, not least their lack of familiarity with local cultural norms and values, and economic, political and legal systems that are very different to their own. One especially difficult, but under-explored, issue arises when the host country has ethical and compliance standards that are lower than those in the firms' home country. The dilemma is essentially how to compete successfully with local firms while being ethical and legally compliant at home. This paper uses interviews with Chinese and foreign experts, as well as secondary data, to analyse the challenges facing foreign firms operating in China and to explore the tactical and strategic means by which they can be addressed.

Objective : The objective of the article are threefold. First, to examine the significance of knowledge based resources for internationalization of small and medium sized enterprises. Second, to verify the strategic intent as a factor enhancing SMEs’ ability to accumulate the knowledge about foreign markets. Third, to examine whether and how strategic intent and time-to-internationalization moderate the relationship between foreign market knowledge and SMEs’ international performance. Research Design & Methods : The study was conducted on a sample of 89 Polish firms operating in a low-tech but fairly internationalized sector. In line with a theoretical background, hypotheses are developed and tested with linear regression models. Findings: The findings reveal that foreign market knowledge (FMK) is positively associated with international performance (IP), and both, strategic intent and firm’s age at internationalization are moderators of FMK-IP relationship. Implications & Recommendations: Firms’ ability to clearly formulate the strategic intent brings important consequences for ability to accumulate knowledge. Strategic intent enhances the development of the stock of foreign market knowledge, which in turn enables firms to achieve better performance in international markets. Contribution & Value Added: The article seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussion on factors supporting the accumulation of foreign market knowledge by focusing on the role of strategic intent and time to internationalization in this respect.

We study the consequences of market uncertainty on international trade. An increase in foreign market uncertainty dampens China's aggregate exports on both the extensive and intensive margins. The adverse effects are more pronounced in industries facing tighter financial constraints than in others. We propose a dynamic trade model to explain the facts. Greater uncertainty depresses a firm's expected value of exporting and borrowing capacity, leading to fewer exporters and a smaller average size of exports. Under calibrated parameters, the uncertainty shock accounts for a sizeable fraction of China's trade collapse in the 2008 financial crisis and the recent trade war.

In the past few years, the trading volume has steadily increased on the continuous intraday market of EPEX Spot, one of Europe's most important exchanges for short-term electricity trading. This is to a significant extent due to renewable energies in the form of solar and wind power, whereby interday trading is particularly well suited for the rebalancing of such energy production. We analyze the volatility and dispersion of individual hourly contracts, taking into account the particularities of the market, due to which the standard volatility measure from financial time series cannot be applied. We suggest and analyze five measures for the dispersion of intraday prices for a single contract. The different measures are similarly well suited for electricity contracts. We then identify fundamental drivers of price fluctuations. The relative share of wind in the overall mix, the traded volume, the absolute difference between the day-ahead auction price, and the volume-weighted intraday price increase dispersion. The traded volume between the German market and a foreign market decreases dispersion.

Entering foreign markets can be an opportunity for some brands. Expansion contributes to developing competitiveness, building a brand and increasing profits, which will be reflected in overall business performance in a market environment. In this article, we elaborate on the identification data of the Starbucks brand. We identify the international environment and the current marketing strategy of the brand. We also focus on defining its marketing performance with regard to the application of the current strategy in the international environment when entering the target foreign market. Based on the analyzed data on the brand and performance, we approach the probabilistic analysis in order to identify the right foreign market. The performed analysis consists of two basic stages. The first step is a rough selection analysis and a fine selection analysis. In the discussion part, we define the advantages and limitations of the brand’s entry into a new foreign market. We support the individual statements with the results of a coarse and fine selection analysis. We also describe the use and limitations of the brand’s cooperation strategy in the future. In the final part of the article, we identify the identified statements with the current marketing strategy and suggest the direction of its development when entering a new foreign market.

Mangrove crabs (Scylla sp.) are important economic fishery commodities that will be developed in Gorontalo Province. Mangrove crabs have large and prospective market opportunities in the domestic and foreign market. The mangrove crabs demand in this country is very high. Market demand for mangrove crabs has not been able to be fulfilled, because of the limited catch and the production of aquaculture which is still very minimal. The problem is how the development of mangrove crab cultivation will be applied in Gorontalo Province. The purpose of this research was to study and determine the development strategy of mangrove crab cultivation in Gorontalo Province in accordance with the potential and carrying capacity of the environment. The researched method was survey method with observational data collection and random sampling techniques. Data analysis was performed descriptively and SWOT analysis. Based on the SWOT analysis the strength (S) most influential on the development of mangrove crab culture in Gorontalo Province is government support and profitable business prospects (0.66), while the biggest weakness is the limited capital (0.54) and the low quality of human cultivation resources (0,48), and the biggest opportunity (O) is economic value (Very popular, because it is delicious and contains high nutritional value) (0.8), and threat (T) environmental degradation (0.8). Based on the quadrant of the analysis is in quadrant 1 (Growth Oriented Strategy). Keywords: Development, Strategy, Scylla spp, Cultivation, Gorontalo Province

This research examined how domestic consumers respond to an advertisement using brand popularity in a foreign market. By using structural equation modeling, it shows that the consumers’ response can change as a function of three characteristics of brand popularity in a foreign market: (a) expertise of foreign consumers, (b) similarity between domestic consumers and foreign consumers, and (c) animosity to a foreign country. Meanwhile, the similarity effect is found to be stronger for high-preference heterogeneity than low-preference heterogeneity. This research documents the importance of understanding the underlying mechanism to determine the effects of brand popularity in a foreign market on brand attitude and purchase intention.