Export emergence of differentiated goods from developing countries: Export pioneers and business practices in Argentina

Alejandro Artopoulos, Daniel Friel and Juan Hallak

Journal of Development Economics, 2013, vol. 105, issue C, 19-35

Abstract: This study explores the underlying factors that enable firms from developing countries to successfully export differentiated goods to developed countries. The article describes four case studies of export emergence in differentiated-good sectors in Argentina, namely wine, television programs, motorboats, and wooden furniture. The case studies rely primarily on an extensive set of interviews. We find that consistent exporters to developed countries adopt a new set of business practices that differ starkly from those that prevail in their domestic market. In three of the sectors, an export pioneer led the adoption of these new practices. Export pioneers possessed tacit knowledge about foreign markets, achieved through their previous embeddedness in the business community of those markets. Export emergence occurs as business practices diffuse throughout the sector. These findings point to the importance of foreign market knowledge, relative to production knowledge, as the key constraint to achieve consistent export to developed countries.

Keywords: Export business practices; Export emergence; Embeddedness; Export pioneer; Diffusion; Case studies; Product quality; Export dynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F10 F14 M13 M16 O14 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (78)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:105:y:2013:i:c:p:19-35

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.07.001

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