Thesis (D. Comm.(Economics))-University of Pretoria, 2005. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

This thesis seeks to develop insights into the nature of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are effective in competing internationally, over the longer term. It therefore aims to provide a better understanding of the behaviour that engenders this capability. Its contributory value lies in the development of the new perspectives which emerged from inductive theory development grounded in longitudinal data collected between1996-1999. Traditionally explanations for the success of SMEs in export markets, it is suggested, have been sought in the marketing mix paradigm rooted in exchange theory. This thesis draws from a range of literature in seeking an understanding of the behaviours observed. In developing a substantive theory to explain the dynamic nature of firms that sustain their competitive effectiveness on international markets this thesis then seeks explanations from the organisational learning paradigm. This study follows the tradition of the naturalistic paradigm and as such the research was a phenomenological study of an exploratory and qualitative nature. The naturalistic paradigm recognises the importance of the subjective experiences of individuals and groups. In the verstehen tradition this study stresses the importance of the informant as the primary source of information. The aim of the inquiry was to develop an ideographic body of knowledge, the emphasis being on explanation and understanding rather than the identification of general and universal laws. The epistemological stance taken required an inductive approach to theory building. Examining the firms longitudinally was the means by which the author was able to take an holistic view of the international activities of the firms studied and focus on the change processes and challenges faced in the study period. The central proposition of this thesis is that the firms that compete effectively on international markets exhibit a positive marketing orientation, and have a strong core purpose on which is generated a clear internationally based strategic direction. It is further proposed that over a period of time, through an iterative process of strategy development, firms build a sustainable competitive advantage in their international markets and develop the ability to maintain this advantage, even when faced with hostile challenges in their international markets. Firms, it is suggested through their relationships, build a virtual structure to their international markets, which provide the means through which a knowledge of their markets is acquired, and an input is made to the strategy development process by external partners. However, it is through the dynamic processes of organisational learning that SMEs develop these capabilities and so enhance their ability to sustain a competitive advantage over a period of time.

Nas últimas décadas, muitos países têm visto o uso automotivo de biocombustíveis como uma contribuição para soluções importantes, como aumento da eficiência energética, da flexibilidade e da diversificação das fontes de energia disponíveis; resposta à questão de segurança energética; promoção do uso de fontes energéticas renováveis e menos agressivas ao meio ambiente, especialmente com relação à necessidade de redução dos Gases de Efeito Estufa e aproveitamento das vantagens comparativas do país, com a promoção do desenvolvimento e da exportação de novas tecnologias e produtos. O Brasil é pioneiro na produção e utilização do etanol e, aliando-se ao aquecimento do mercado interno, existe a expectativa de aumento das exportações desse combustível, mantendo o Brasil como líder no mercado internacional. Este trabalho identifica e analisa os entraves que envolvem as perspectivas de exportação de etanol brasileiro, através do estudo dos potenciais mercados, seus programas de utilização do etanol combustível e suas barreiras tarifárias e não tarifárias, como as medidas protecionistas contra produtos estrangeiros, os subsídios aos produtores domésticos e as certificações, que podem retardar o estabelecimento do etanol como commodity e, ainda, impedir o seu crescimento no comércio internacional. / In recent decades, many countries have seen the use of biofuels in light vehicles as a contribution to important steps: to increase energy efficiency and the flexibility and diversification of available energy resources; to respond to the challenge of energy security; to promote the use of renewable and less environmentally harmful energy resources, especially with regard to the need to reduce GHG emissions and exploit the countrys comparative advantages; and to promote the development and export of new technologies and products. Brazil is a pioneer in the production and use of ethanol, and in addition to the expansion of its domestic market for this fuel, exports are expected to rise, so that Brazil will retain its leading position in the international market. This study identifies and analyzes future challenges to Brazilian ethanol exports by studying potential markets, their fuel ethanol programs, their tariff and non-tariff barriers, their protectionist measures against foreign products, their subsidies for domestic producers, and their certifications, which may delay the consolidation of ethanol as a commodity and impede its growth in international trade.

M.Com. (Business Management) / This study set out to explore the factors that facilitate the export readiness of emerging exporters who benefit from the Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) scheme at the Department of Trade and Industry (dti). I hypothesised that management commitment, management skills, financial resources; technical knowledge, capacity to manufacture and international marketing intelligence have a positive relationship with export readiness. I used a questionnaire based on the work of Van Elden (2003) to collect data from emerging exporters. I tested the reliability of each scale showing Cronbach alpha values ranging from 072 to 0.86. A regression analysis confirmed that all six factors were significantly correlated to export readiness. I recommend that the dti view more carefully whether the beneficiaries of EMIA have the capacity indicated by the six factors before spending resources on such beneficiaries. EMIA staff should recommend interventions based on these six factors to those applicants who are unsuccessful.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / In line with neoclassical economic growth propositions that outward-orientation fosters economic growth, since independence from Britain in 1964 the Government of Malawi has placed international trade at the centre of its economic development agenda. In spite of this theoretical affirmation of the trade-growth relationship, some empirical studies that have been done both in the country and abroad show contrary results. This prompted this study to be undertaken with the aim of assessing the impact of exports and imports on economic growth in Malawi from 1970 to 2010.This study has used a neoclassic economic growth model containing gross domestic product, exports, imports, capital and labour force as variables of analysis. After collecting annual time series data on the variables for the period 1970 to 2010 from the World Bank online statistical data base, Ordinary Least Squares regression and several econometric tests were run on the model to ensure robust and accurate results. Statistical accuracy of the findings was further cemented by use of the 5 percent level of significance. Exports were found to have a positive and statistically significant effect on the country’s economic growth, while imports had a negative and insignificant influence. Similarly, capital and labour force showed a positive effect on economic growth even though the capital’s effect was statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, the study also strongly confirmed the presence of a long-run equilibrium among the variables. The above results strongly suggest that Malawi should continue with its export-led economic growth strategies such as the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) and the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MDGS). However, if the two economic development plans are to bear fruit this study strongly urges Malawi to consider diversifying its economy away from primary export production and instead embark on value-addition. Furthermore, the country should not only reduce the importation of consumer goods in favour of capital goods, but also improve the quality of the labour force and capital formation, if Malawi is to realise its economic development and poverty alleviation aspirations.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-34). / According to the Competition Act of South Africa, proposed mergers, if rejected on the grounds of anti-competitive effects as well as the efficiency considerations, may be passed on certain public interest grounds. The fourth public interest clause potentially allows mergers to be passed should the merged firm become more able to compete in international markets. This paper interprets the clause to refer to a relationship between firm size and exports, and investigates this supposed relationship and, in so doing, the validity of the clause. It is found that firm size is positively related to export propensity, the likelihood of exporting any output. However, firm size is found to be unrelated to the intensity of exporting, the proportion of output that is exported by the firm. This paper covers new areas of research, and its conclusions call into question the inclusion of the relevant public interest clause in the Competition Act.

Understanding firm behavior is key to understand the process of economic development. Firm choices affect labor market outcomes and the economy’s ability to increase productivity and living standards. In this dissertation, I study two important aspects of firm behavior: technological upgrading and exporting. In the first chapter, I analyze the role of adoption costs and technological complementarities in the process of managerial upgrading, and propose a feasible way to promote the adoption of better management practices by firms. Using a regression discontinuity strategy, I show that a subsidy to certify process standards, such as ISO 9001, increases certification probability and, additionally, induces the adoption of modern management practices that are beyond the standards’ scope. The managerial improvement is concentrated in monitoring and target-setting practices, while no change is detected in practices related to incentives for employees. These findings are consistent with a model in which process documentation, which is required by the standards, and modern management practices are complementary and suggest that subsidizing the certification of process standards is a feasible way to improve management. While the first chapter focuses on the adoption of an already known technology, the second chapter is concerned with the capacity of R&D subsidies to induce the adoption of new technologies in companies. Despite their popularity, there is little evidence of the effect R&D subsidies on the adoption of new technologies by companies. Using a regression discontinuity strategy, I show that an R&D subsidy program in Peru was not able to induce the adoption of new products and processes by beneficiary firms. Qualitative evidence suggests that the main obstacles were not the technical challenges of developing the new technologies, but their implementation. Together with the results presented in the first chapter, these findings suggest that firms’ lack of capacity to handle complex projects might be an important barrier for the success of policy interventions to promote technological upgrading. In the third chapter, co-authored with Judith A. Frías, David S. Kaplan, and Eric Verhoogen, we explore the impact of exports on wage premia. There is evidence showing that exporting firms pay higher average wages. However, it is still unclear whether these results are due to to changes in the wage premia or changes in workforce composition. In our study, we use employer-employee and longitudinal plant data from Mexico to address this question. We do so by decomposing plant-level average wages into a component reflecting wage premia and a component reflecting workers’ skill composition. Using the late-1994 peso devaluation interacted with initial plant size as a source of exogenous variation in exports, we find that exports have a significant positive effect on wage premia, and that the effect on wage premia accounts for essentially all of the medium-term effect of exporting on plant-average wages.

En la actualidad, el café es uno de los bienes de mayor comercialización del mundo y una de las bebidas con mayor grado de aceptación mundial, esto debido a su sabor y demás atributos resaltantes al consumirlo. Sin embargo, al ser altamente comercializado su precio se encuentra expuesto a variaciones constantes, pues son cotizados en el mercado de valores. Entre los años 2014-2018 el consumo mundial de café de todo tipo ha ido incrementándose y creando nuevos productos a base de este. En este periodo, muchos países han ido consolidándose como productores de cafés especiales. Este es el caso de Colombia, Etiopia, Brasil, Vietnam y Honduras, los cuales han trabajado rigurosamente en cobrar este tipo de relevancia. En el presente documento se analiza los factores: Calidad, capacitación y asociatividad que influyen en las exportaciones de café especial de café especial de Chanchamayo, Junín - Perú. Para ello, se analiza la relación que habita entre las variables. La investigación posee un enfoque mixto, es decir, cuantitativa y cualitativa. Según los datos resultantes, se obtiene que los factores guardan relación con las exportaciones de café especial, pues es nivel es significativo y correlacionado. / Currently, coffee is one of the most commercialized goods in the world and one of the drinks with the highest degree of global acceptance, this due to its flavor and other prominent attributes when consumed. However, being highly commercialized, its price is exposed to constant variations, since they are quoted on the stock market. Between 2014-2018 the world consumption of coffee of all kinds has been increasing and creating new products based on it. In this period, many countries have been consolidating as producers of specialty coffees. This is the case of Colombia, Ethiopia, Brazil, Vietnam and Honduras, which have worked rigorously to gain this type of relevance. This document analyzes the factors: Quality, training and associativity that influence exports of specialty coffee from specialty coffee from Chanchamayo, Junín - Peru. For this, the relationship between the variables is analyzed. The research has a mixed approach, that is, quantitative and qualitative. According to the resulting data, it is obtained that the factors are related to the exports of specialty coffee, since this level is significant and correlated. / Tesis

Global beef markets are highly influenced by sanitary issues, mainly related to animal health and food safety, which have been determining levels and trends in global beef trade. Food safety issues affecting human health such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) associated with Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD) in humans, and other diseases affecting production such as foot and mouth disease (FMD) has encouraged putting these issues to beef trade attention. A way to address these concerns and comply with international standards is the use of traceability systems in order to quickly identify hazard sources and assure beef quality and safety. The goal of this research was to assess the effect of exporting countries sanitary status of BSE and FMD, and traceability systems in beef export prices and to examine Paraguayan beef exports relative to other exporting countries. Data of the top beef exporters was collected from the United Nations Commodity Trade Database (UN Comtrade), including export operations volume and receipt with each of their trading partners, from 2000 to 2012. Four commodities were studied: Frozen and Fresh/Chilled bone-in and boneless beef cuts. The data was analyzed using ordinary least squares regression methods (a hedonic price equation). Five models were run, one for each commodity and lastly one with all four together. Results revealed that both FMD and BSE affect negatively to beef exports prices, as well as shipments from India, that has no official FMD status and any traceability system in place. Apart from sanitary status, epidemiological events also have a negative impact on beef prices. On the other hand, the implementation of traceability systems improves prices. In this scenario, Paraguay lags behind in the adoption of emerging markets standards for traceability systems, therefore does not access most competitive markets, which pay higher prices. As such, Paraguay faces challenges to maintain and expand beef exports, especially in regards to keeping the country’s FMD free status.

The purpose of this research is to examine the determinants of the textile and apparel exports of India and South Korea over 1974-2001. This was addressed through an econometric analysis of the effects of several independent variables on the gross and net exports of textiles and apparel for India and South Korea. The analysis employed four linear models, which were each estimated separately for textiles and apparel for India and South Korea. The independent variables were net value of physical-capital stock, technological capital, two different levels of human capital, unit labor cost in textiles and in apparel, per-capita domestic apparel production, and domestic cotton production. The study extends that by Zhang and Dardis (1991) who analyzed the determinants of textile exports over the period 1970-1985, using a sample of 27 major textile exporting countries. Secondary data for each year over 1974-2001 were used for the variables in the analysis. The data analysis included 32 estimations using the four different linear models to test the hypothesized relationships between textile and apparel exports and the independent variables for India and South Korea separately. Model 1 examined the impact of current year values of the independent variables on current-year gross or net exports of textiles or apparel. Model 2 examined the impact of one-year lagged values of the independent variables on current-year gross or net exports of textiles or apparel. Model 3 examined the impact of changes in the current-year values of the independent variables on changes in current-year gross or net exports of textiles or apparel. Model 4 examined the impact of one-year lagged values of changes in the independent variables on changes in current-year gross or net exports of textiles or apparel. Major findings indicate that current-year net value of physical-capital stock positively impacted the gross textile exports of India and both gross and net textile exports of South Korea over 1974-2001.Although the results indicate positive effects of current-year net value of physical-capital stock on India's gross and net apparel exports, they indicate negative effects on South Korea's gross and net apparel exports. One-year lagged net values of physical-capital stock were positively related to South Korea's current-year gross and net apparel exports. A negative impact of previous-year net value of physical-capital stock was found in one instance, South Korea's current-year gross apparel exports. Technological capital measured as the number of scientists, engineers, technical personnel involved in R&D, negatively affected South Korea's gross and net apparel exports. The impact of one-year lagged technological capital was negative on both India's and South Korea's current-year gross and net apparel exports. Human capital measured by enrollment in secondary-level education showed positive impact on India's current-year gross and net exports of textile and apparel and on South Korea's current-year gross and net apparel exports. The results also showed a negative impact of current-year changes in secondary-education enrollment on current-year changes in net textile exports of India. Human capital measures by enrollment in tertiary-level education indicated a positive impact on South Korea's net textile exports and gross apparel exports. One-year lagged tertiary-education enrollment also positively affected South Korea's gross textile exports and its gross and net apparel exports. Contrary to expectations, current-year change sin tertiary-education enrollment showed a negative impact on current-year changes in India's net textile exports. Per-capita domestic apparel production showed a positive impact on India's gross and net textile exports and on South Korea's gross apparel exports. One-year lagged domestic apparel production also had a positive impact on India's current-year net textile exports and South Korea's gross apparel exports. The results of one-year lagged domestic cotton production had a positive impact on South Korea's current-year gross and net textile and apparel exports. / Master of Science