Capacity building as a route to export market expansion: A six-country experiment in the Western Balkans*

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cusolito, Ana P.; Darova, Ornella; McKenzie, David
• 署名单位: The World Bank; University of Pennsylvania; The World Bank
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2023.103794
• 发表日期: 2023
• 关键词: Export market expansion; training; Consulting; Digital presence; Customer acquisition

摘要

The limited market size of many small emerging economies is a key constraint to the growth of innovative small and medium enterprises. Exporting offers a potential solution, but firms may struggle to locate and appeal to foreign buyers. We conducted a six-country randomized experiment with 225 firms in the Western Balkans to test the effectiveness of 30 h of live groupbased training and 5 h of one-on-one remote consulting in overcoming these constraints. Treated firms used techniques such as search engine optimization and improved Facebook content to increase their digital presence and better reach foreign customers. A year later, we find positive and significant impacts on the number of customers, and a significant intensive margin increase in export sales. Qualitative interviews suggest this improvement came from a combination of sector-specific advice on market expansion, and through an encouragement effect which gave entrepreneurs the confidence to try new sales strategies. & COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V.