ARCHIVED—Canadian SME Exporters

Barbara Orser, Martine Spence and Allan Riding, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa;
Christine Carrington, Industry Canada

January 2008

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Previous Research: Internationalization of SMEs
  • 2.1 Motives and Barriers
  • 2.2 Stage Theory
  • 2.3 Resource-Exchange Theory
  • 2.4 Network Theory
  • 2.5 Feminist Theory
  • 2.6 Production Functions, Thresholds and Export Capacity
  • 2.7 Summary of Study Propositions
• 3. Research Methodology
• 4. Empirical Findings
  • 4.1 Descriptive Findings
  • 4.2 Owner and Firm Attributes
    • 4.2.1 Comparison of Exporters and Domestic-based Firms
  • 4.3 Multivariate Modeling of Export Propensity
    • 4.3.1 Gender of Ownership and Export Propensity
    • 4.3.2 International New Ventures
  • 4.4 Examining Size Thresholds
    • 4.4.1 Size Thresholds Defined as Number of Employees
    • 4.4.2 Estimating Thresholds and the Production Function
  • 4.5 Summary of Study Propositions
• 5. Discussion of Findings
  • 5.1 Summary
  • 5.2 Questions for Research, Trade Policy Makers and Export Training Officers
  • 5.3 Limitations and Implications for Future Research
• 6. References

Acknowledgements

This report is one product of a collaborative partnership between the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa and the Small Business Branch of Industry Canada (SBB). The research team would like to acknowledge the important contributions of John Connell (formally Director General, SBB), Peter Webber and Brad Belanger (both formally, SBB) and contract analyst Miwako Nitani. All omissions and errors remain the responsibility of the report authors. Comments and questions about this report can be directed to Barbara Orser (Telfer School of Management).