The relationship between firm size and export behaviour revisited

Abstract. Many academic studies and government leaders are asking small- and medium-sized firms to become more involved in exports. Unfortunately, the role that can be played by smaller firms is unclear. Despite the vast number of studies on size and export behavior, discrepancies in study findings and the absence of variance statistics prevent researchers from understanding the importance of size. This study has sought to examine the direct and indirect effects of firm size by examining three dimen-sions of export behavior: propensity to export, countries exporting to and export attitudes for 14,072 Canadian manufacturers. The results indicate that while firm size is positively related to all dimensions of export behavior, its importance is limited as the amount of variance explained is modest. The relationship between firm size and export behavior remains one of the most widely analyzed relationships [Mugler and Miesenbock 1986; Bonaccors