Impact of export growth expectations on smaller firms

This article reports the findings of a survey of export attitudes and behavior of small- and medium-sized U.S. manufacturing firms. Companies are differentiated according to their growth expectations and the behaviors of firms that have export growth expectations are compared to the behavior of firms that do not anticipate export growth. The authors suggest that the export growth expectations of a firm shape its behavior in terms of contact activities and its perceptions of export problems. Recommendations are made regarding the use and helpfulness of outside information sources.