Spatial distribution of exporters only recently has attracted the attention of researchers, while the location of economic activity as such has been subject of profound analysis for a long time. Regions have become more open and thus vulnerable to external shocks. Nevertheless, the increase in the number of exporters in the population of firms is one of the top priorities of regions' economic policy agenda, as it improves competitiveness and overall productivity. Literature overview shows an important gap, which is insufficient consideration of the role of ownership, as regards the determinants of the spatial distribution of exporters. The study identifies the differences between the determinants of spatial location of foreign-owned exporters (FOEs) and domestic-owned exporters (DOEs), in particular the role of metropolis, the proximity to infrastructure and the consequences of historical factors and thus the path dependency. The FOEs and DOEs differ in their location preferences. In particular, our results indicate that FOEs pay more attention to proximity to infrastructure and are more susceptible to the presence of agglomeration externalities in the vicinity of metropolitan areas. In addition, historical factors affect the spatial distribution of exporters, especially if the interaction of path dependency and infrastructure endowment is introduced.
We use the small open economy concept to identify the determinants of region's exports at a NUTS-2 level for Poland and Spain over the period 2005-2015. Research Design & Methods: We apply the Prais-Winsten method for Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) on a data panel allowing for heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation estimating a model of regional exports for a joint sample of Polish and Spanish NUTS-2 regions. Findings: We identify a number of factors which statistically significantly determine exports arising from Polish and Spanish regions. These factors are classified into the following main groups: factor conditions, FDI, infrastructure, market conditions, remoteness and geography, spatial agglomeration and technological knowledge base. Implications & Recommendations: By going beyond national trade statistics, we provide evidence which can be used at the regional level to increase participation of regions in the world economy. Political decisions which are taken at the regional level seem to matter. Contribution & Value Added: This paper combines scientific knowledge from several perspectives: international economics and international business, as well as regional science. We believe that an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to increase the knowledge which goes beyond nations, while not focusing on firms, as units of analysis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.