Capacity Building as a Route to Export Market Expansion

• Tác giả: Omella Darova
• Ngôn ngữ: eng
• Ký hiệu phân loại: 338.9 Economic development and growth
• Thông tin xuất bản: World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023
• Bộ sưu tập: Tài liệu truy cập mở
• ID: 304078
• Chủ đề: 1. CONSULTING; 2. CUSTOMER ACQUISITION; 3. DIGITAL PRESENCE; 4. EXPORT MARKET EXPANSION; 5. TRAINING

Tóm tắt

The limited market size of many small emerging economies is a key constraint to the growth of innovative small and medium enterprises. Exporting offers a potential solution, but firms may struggle to locate and appeal to foreign buyers. A six-country randomized experiment was conducted with 225 firms in the Western Balkans to test the effectiveness of 30 hours of live group-based training and 5 hours of one-on-one remote consulting in overcoming these constraints. Treated firms used techniques such as search engine optimization and improved Facebook content to increase their digital presence and better reach foreign customers. A year later, positive and significant impacts are found on the number of customers, and a significant intensive margin increase in export sales. Qualitative interviews suggest this improvement came from a combination of sector-specific advice on market expansion, and through an encouragement effect which gave entrepreneurs the confidence to try new sales strategies.