There is consensus that Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) exports play a critical role in the development of economies. It has been widely acknowledged in empirical research done around the world that small businesses make a significant contribution to economic development, employment, competitiveness and the reduction of regional disparities. However, empirical literature gives conflicting evidence on the determinants of export performance among SMEs. The study contributes towards the debate on SME exports by: (i) investigating the variables that determine export performance among SMEs in Zimbabwe (ii) establishing the competi-tiveness of Zimbabwe’s exports and (iii) ascertaining the major constraints faced by SME ex-porters in Zimbabwe The researcher gathered data from 120 SMEs and 10 institutions in Zimbabwe for the period 2009 to 2015. SME samples were chosen from Harare, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East provinces while all 10 of the institutions were chosen from Harare province. Convenient non-probability sampling method was used to select SMEs while stratified sampling technique was applied in the selection of institutions. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. For the quantitative approach, panel data ordinary least squares method was used in the form of the gravity model of trade. Export intensity (used as a measure of exports) was regressed against support institutions, business ownership, research & development, educational years, use of export processing zones, product type, export years, firm size, firm age, gender, distance from trading partner, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of trading partner, and GDP of Zimbabwe. The random effects estimation method was used, basing on results from the Durbin-Wu-Hausman test. The null hypothesis was based on the premise that the variables under study do not determine export intensity of SMEs in Zimbabwe. Other null hypothesis were that the major constraint faced by SME exporters in Zimbabwe is not access to finance and that Zimbabwe’s exports are not competitive in the mining, agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The revealed comparative advantage index was computed to measure the competitiveness of Zimbabwe’s exports.For the qualitative approach, the study used the triangulation method which involved combining and utilising the questionnaire, interviews and focus group discussions. The results from the study indicated that following variables increased export intensity of Zimbabwean SMEs; business ownership, use of export processing zones, export years, firm size, and GDP of trading partner. The following variables have an inverse relationship with the export intensity of Zimbabwean SMEs: gender, distance from trading partner and research & development. The results also indicated that these further variables do not determine the export intensity of SMEs in Zimbabwe: support institutions, years of education, product type, firm age and GDP of Zimbabwe. The major constraint faced by exporting SMEs in Zimbabwe is limited access to finance. Zimbabwe is competitive in the agricultural and mining sector exports, but not in manufacturing sector exports The policy implication of the findings is that SME support needs to go beyond support institutions when it comes to SME export promotion. Further SMEs in the agriculture and mining sectors need to be promoted for export growth since Zimbabwe is competitive in these sectors. However the manufacturing sector cannot be ignored, since many economies have developed due to exports of manufactured products and a country needs to have balanced export growth in both primary and manufacturing sectors. In order to have motivated, career SME exporters, entrepreneurship education should begin from primary school right up to university so as to improve entrepreneurial aspirations, attitudes and behaviour in the long run.

With congestion, environmental Impact, and the price of oil becoming topics that influence businesses and individuals in a daily basis, measures need to be undertaken in order to accommodate the growing demand for freight transportation. By directing many of the trucks travelling along the National Highways Systems to the Marine Highway corridors developed by the U.S. Maritime Administrations, many of the problems can be addressed in the Short and Medium terms. In order to do so, Short Sea Shipping, through the use of Ro/Ro (Roll-on/Roll-off) Vessels, needs to be implemented. Although the environmental and congestion reducing benefits are considerable, the profitability of this transportation mode needs to be considered. A cost benefit analysis can determine the margin of profit, and attract investors and businesses. By developing a mathematical model that accounts the costs associated with transporting trucks along a particular corridor, the competitiveness of Short Sea Shipping can be determined. / by Alvaro Galletebeitia. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This dissertation explores a crucial period in the monetary geography of the Atlantic economy by examining the market for gold and silver coins (specie) in New Orleans between the Panic of 1839 and the U.S. naval blockade of the Confederate port in 1861. Situated at the intersection of global financial history and U.S. economic and business history, the dissertation reconstructs New Orleans’ supply chain of precious metals, shedding light on the port’s strategic role linking mining regions to specie-scarce nations under international bimetallism, and reveals how commission merchants, cotton factors, and merchant banks’ agents relied on metallic liquidity to engage in international trade and financial intermediation during a crucial era for nation-building and economic development in the Americas. The dissertation employs three main research strategies: (1) statistical and geographic analyses of a novel specie imports dataset (the first of its kind in the scholarly literature on specie in the early U.S. economy), extracted from the New Orleans Price-Current, a semi-weekly business newspaper, (2) group profiles and social network analysis of specie importers, leveraging multi-archival research and case studies of individuals, families, and banking and financial entities, (3) historical statistics on U.S. specie imports and Mexican specie production and exports. Chapter 1 reveals New Orleans’ centrality in the antebellum U.S. specie market and its strategic position in securing and shipping specie for the Atlantic economy under international bimetallism. Chapter 2 examines the demand side of the New Orleans specie market by focusing on the port’s cosmopolitan community of specie importers. Foreign residents received more specie than U.S. importers and New Orleans banks combined. The Louisiana Creole commission merchant and cotton factor Edmond Jean Forstall was the market’s key arbitrageur. Importers sorted into “silver barons” and “gold princes:” foreign residents handled mostly Mexican silver, while English residents, Anglo-Americans, and New Orleans banks obtained primarily gold. Chapter 3 focuses on the production and exports of Mexican specie to New Orleans. The port’s commission merchants exported British, Western European, and U.S. goods to Mexico in exchange for pesos (dollars); they reshipped U.S. cotton and Mexican pesos to European markets demanding specie for currency arbitrage operations in Europe and trade with China. Although New Orleans rapidly obtained metallic liquidity amid episodes of financial distress such as the Panic of 1857, its specie supply chain was highly vulnerable to disruptions from geopolitical shocks such as the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and the U.S. Civil War.

The thesis examines a number of questions concerning the design, construction, costs and use of Romano-British seagoing and inland waters shipping. In the first part the reasons for the methods of construction for seagoing and coastal vessels, such as the Blackfriars Ship 1, the St. Peter Port Ship and the Barland's Farm Boat, have been investigated. The constructional characteristics of the two ships are massive floors and frames, with the planking fastened only to the floors and frames with heavy clenched iron nails. There is no edge to edge fastening of the planks, with tenons inserted into mortises cut into the edges of the planks, as is normal in the Mediterranean tradition of ship construction in the Roman period. The Romano-British ships also differ from the Scandinavian tradition of clinker building with overlapping planks nailed to each other along their length. It has been concluded that a natural phenomenon, the large tidal range around the British Isles and the northern coasts of Gaul and Germany, had a dominant effect on the design of seagoing vessels. Deep water harbours, such as Portus, Caesar ea Maritima and Alexandria in the Mediterranean, where ships could lie afloat at all times, were neither practicable nor economic with the technology available. At the British ports, such as Dover, London and Chichester, ships had to come in with the high tide, moor to simple wharves at the high tide level, and then settle on the ground as the tide dropped. At the numerous small havens, inlets and estuaries around the British coasts, ships would come in with the tide, settle on a natural or man-made 'hard' as the tide fell, and discharge cargo over the side to carts, pack animals or people. This mode of operation required sturdy ships that could take the ground without damage, and also withstand a certain amount of 'bumping' on the bottom in the transition period from fully afloat to fully aground. The second part of the thesis investigates the cost of building, maintaining and operating various types of vessels. To do this, a new mode for measuring cost, the Basic Economic Unit, or BEU, has been developed. The probable volume of the various types of cargoes carried has been examined. It appears that grain was the dominant cargo in both coastal and overseas traffic. The total cost of building, maintaining and operating the seagoing and inland water shipping was less than one percent of the gross product of Britain, a small cost for an essential service.

The thesis examines a number of questions concerning the design, construction, costs and use of Romano-British seagoing and inland waters shipping. In the first part the reasons for the methods of construction for seagoing and coastal vessels, such as the Blackfriars Ship 1, the St. Peter Port Ship and the Barland's Farm Boat, have been investigated. The constructional characteristics of the two ships are massive floors and frames, with the planking fastened only to the floors and frames with heavy clenched iron nails. There is no edge to edge fastening of the planks, with tenons inserted into mortises cut into the edges of the planks, as is normal in the Mediterranean tradition of ship construction in the Roman period. The Romano-British ships also differ from the Scandinavian tradition of clinker building with overlapping planks nailed to each other along their length. It has been concluded that a natural phenomenon, the large tidal range around the British Isles and the northern coasts of Gaul and Germany, had a dominant effect on the design of seagoing vessels. Deep water harbours, such as Portus, Caesar ea Maritima and Alexandria in the Mediterranean, where ships could lie afloat at all times, were neither practicable nor economic with the technology available. At the British ports, such as Dover, London and Chichester, ships had to come in with the high tide, moor to simple wharves at the high tide level, and then settle on the ground as the tide dropped. At the numerous small havens, inlets and estuaries around the British coasts, ships would come in with the tide, settle on a natural or man-made 'hard' as the tide fell, and discharge cargo over the side to carts, pack animals or people. This mode of operation required sturdy ships that could take the ground without damage, and also withstand a certain amount of 'bumping' on the bottom in the transition period from fully afloat to fully aground. The second part of the thesis investigates the cost of building, maintaining and operating various types of vessels. To do this, a new mode for measuring cost, the Basic Economic Unit, or BEU, has been developed. The probable volume of the various types of cargoes carried has been examined. It appears that grain was the dominant cargo in both coastal and overseas traffic. The total cost of building, maintaining and operating the seagoing and inland water shipping was less than one percent of the gross product of Britain, a small cost for an essential service. / Arts, Faculty of / Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of / Graduate