Internal determinants affecting interest in exporting: An empirical analysis of turkish nonexporting companies

Research on the export behavior of the nonexporting firms has remained limited in developing nations. Therefore, there is little factual information about their export behavior. The objective of the present study is to find out, if there are any structural differences between Turkish nonexporters, which are exploring the feasibility of exporting, and those which are not interested in exporting at all. Findings show that there is a significant relation between company size, management’s foreign language proficiency, international orientation, firm’s competitive advantages, dependence on imports and desire to sell abroad. However, a significant relation is not found for other internal determinants such as manager’s age, company goal, capacity use and technology intensiveness. These findings and implications are of interest to public policy makers, foreign investors and academicians interested in comparative studies.