The Growth Dynamics of New Export Entrants in Kenya: a Survival Analysis

This paper uses firm-level transaction dataset to examine the entry and growth dynamics of new exporters in international markets

Abstract

This paper uses firm-level transaction dataset from Kenya to examine the entry and growth dynamics of new exporters in international markets and the factors associated with survival in foreign markets. The findings show that for the new exporters, once their trade relationship manages to survive the initial year of entry, it grows and expands overtime contributing substantially to the nation’s exports. However, survival beyond the first year is only for a few. Firm export behaviour such as a large initial trade value of a transaction, exporting differentiated products, exporting a larger number of products and serving a large number of destination countries plays a significant role in the survival of exporters in international markets.

This work is part of the Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL) programme

Citation

Chacha, P. and Edwards, L. (2017) “The Growth Dynamics of New Export Entrants in Kenya: a Survival Analysis” Working Paper

The Growth Dynamics of New Export Entrants in Kenya: a Survival Analysis

Published 18 September 2017