(Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science "Cognitione" ; Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu - National Louis University, 2016) Wąsowska, Aleksandra
This paper explores the evolution of export barriers along the firm’s internationalization
process. Based on a sample of 7,515 European SMEs, we investigate the differences
perceived by different groups of firms: companies uninterested in exports, future
exporters, pre-exporters, experimental exporters, involved exporters, active exporters,
committed exporters and failed exporters. We study both external barriers (i.e. arising
from the environment in home and foreign markets) and internal barriers (i.e. related
to the company’s resource endowment, marketing and strategy). We find statistically
significant differences between some of the studied groups, thus supporting the
notion that the perception of internationalization barriers changes along the firm’s
lifecycle.