3
Table 1.1. World exports by provenance and destination, 2000-2011
From / To Year World Dev. Eco* Dev. Eco and Asia Asia CIS
World 2000 6,337,728 4,374,811 4,865,867 413,656 77,400
2008 15,944,019 9,579,224 10,907,672 811,553 516,895
2009 12,400,610 7,209,429 8,131,100 608,252 313,419
2010 15,032,972 8,403,203 8,956,589 153,677 399,709
2011 17,831,769 9,744,886 11,133,418 909,720 478,812
World Dev. Eco Asia
Dev. Eco and Asia 2000 556,339 283,778 30,765
2008 998,843 383,873 80,118
2009 759,418 268,557 57,392
2010 1,007,411 331,697 73,639
2011 1,106,448 364,474 85,517
* Developed Economies
Source: 2011 International Trade Statistics Yearbook, UN Comtrade Yearbook, 2011
1.2. Internationalisation and SMEs
Internationalisation among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a topic of considerable
relevance, due mainly to the growth effects of cross-border venturing, and the demonstrated capacity
of SMEs to drive economic development at national, regional and global levels (OECD, 2009). Over
the last few decades, many SMEs explored international venturing as a requirement of business
success (Knowles et al., 2006; Rundh, 2007; Saixing et al., 2009). Many firms elected to operate
internationally as proactive players in the global economy (Zain and Ng, 2006; Brouthers and Nakos,
2004). The experience of internationalization by SMEs is sometimes comparable to those of large
firms.
What helps facilitate opportunities for SME internationalization are the considerable advances in
technology and the reduction of costs of international transportation and communication, the lowering
of trade barriers, the shortening of product and technology life cycles, and large multinational
enterprises both collaborating and competing against SMEs in their own domestic market (Rasmussen
et al., 2001; Etemad, 2004).
Despite these advantages, the SME share in the total value of international trade is often found to be
markedly lower than their share in gross domestic product (GDP). There is some evidence of the
barriers facing SMEs seeking to access international markets (OECD, 2008, 2013). Across countries at
different levels of development, the distribution of export is highly skewed in the business population.
This means that a few firms generally dominate a country’s share of export. These are mainly large
firms, whereas SMEs appear to be under-represented in the international economy relative to their
contribution to national and regional economies. Figure 1.1 illustrates that, in a large number of OECD
countries, SMEs have a much lower propensity to export than large firms.
In other words, it is common to observe that countries’ extensive margin of exports, i.e. the number of
firms selling abroad is driven by firms with more than 249 employees. The relationship between firm
size and export propensity holds when differentiating between micro, small and medium sized firms.
Specifically, the share of exporting small firms (10-49 employees) is larger than that of micro firms
(1-9 employees), while medium-sized firms are by far the most exporting sub group of SMEs. This
pattern suggests that SMEs as a whole display substantial differences in their propensity to export. In