Exports in an Imperfect Competition Framework: An Analysis of 1,446 Exporters

This paper explores empirically how export-competing performance is related to domestic and foreign market structure. Recent theoretical propositions that link elements of international and industrial economics are successfully tested on a vast sample of micro data. By means of nonparametric statistics as well as of regression analysis, firm size, industrial concentration, product differentiation, location, information, and foreign subsidiaries are shown to be important elements in explaining Belgian exports behavior. Among the suggestions for economic policy that emerge, it appears that fostering large domestic sales of a firm and domestic concentration or discouraging direct investment abroad will put a brake on export rates.