Information acquisition and export entry decisions in small firms

Abstract

Consistently low usage of export promotion programs and incentives has been observed among small firms. This has led researchers to argue that these firms operate on a limited information basis and deprive themselves of cheap export market knowledge. This study disputes these conclusions and finds that small firms discriminately use alternative sources to acquire foreign market information and assistance. Furthermore, such information acquisition, irrespective of source, is found to have a substantive and significant association with new export market entry. The implications of these findings for government export policy, small firm decision makers, and export literature are explored.