Financial factors and exporting decisions

Using a panel of 9292 UK manufacturing firms over the period 1993-2003, we explore the links between firms’ financial health and their export market participation decisions. We find that exporters exhibit better financial health than non-exporters. Yet, when we differentiate between continuous exporters and starters, we see that this result is driven by the former. Starters generally display low liquidity and high leverage, possibly due to the sunk costs which need to be met to enter export markets. Furthermore, we find no evidence that that firms enjoying better ex-ante financial health are more likely to start exporting, and strong evidence that participation in export markets improves firms’ financial health. JEL Classification: D24, F14, D92.