Title: Exporting and indebtedness in Spanish firms - from the expansion to the great recession

Authors: Antonio García-Tabuenca; Fernando Javier Crecente-Romero; Federico Pablo-Martí

Addresses: Facultad de CC. Económicas y Empresariales (UAH), Universidad de Alcalá, Plaza de la Victoria, 3, 28802 Alcal, Spain ' Facultad de CC. Económicas y Empresariales (UAH), Universidad de Alcalá, Plaza de la Victoria, 3, 28802 Alcal, Spain ' Facultad de CC. Económicas y Empresariales (UAH), Universidad de Alcalá, Plaza de la Victoria, 3, 28802 Alcal, Spain

Abstract: This paper discusses the link between financial constraints and the behaviour of exporting and non-exporting firms in the period 2003-2012, which includes expansion (2003-2007) and crisis (2008-2012). A sample of 27,000 Spanish firms is used, of which 15,000 are exporters. We studied whether easy access to credit in the period of economic expansion or the challenging financial conditions arising from the crisis affected the competitiveness and internationalisation of these firms. We find evidence that during the expansion and bubble, the decision to export was not related to sources of financing. We also find that after the onset of the crisis, a firm's level of indebtedness had a negative relationship with its probability of exporting.

Keywords: exporting firms; balance sheet recession; Spain; indebtedness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2022.122657

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2022 Vol.45 No.4, pp.450 - 475

Received: 25 May 2019
Accepted: 25 May 2019
Published online: 05 May 2022 *

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