The Export Behavior of Small Canadian Manufacturing Firms.

This paper reports on a survey of the export behavior of small Canadian manufacturing firms. An analysis of tables (ANOTA) model is used to describe the relationship between export performance and market characteristics. The export transactions of these firms are also examined using ANOTA and latent class analysis. The relationship between export experience and geographic diversification predicted by stages of development models is confirmed. In addition. two types of export transactions are identified: (1) active exports that help firms reach a market of sufficient size and (2) passive exports in response to demand from foreign customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]