Investigating the Behavior of New Exporters in Export Markets with Emphasis on the Role of Export Experience

Experiential knowledge (export experience) about foreign operations and markets is a conductive force in the internationalization of companies. Therefore, the present research, emphasizing the role of export experience for start-up companies, examines the possibility of entering and exiting the export market and the growth of export volume. For this purpose, the export data of Iranian companies active between 2013 and 2017in the field of export food products were used. The Least Squares Dummy Variable (LSDV) method was used to analyze these data. The research results show that being a start-up company causes an 11% increase in the probability of entering a new market, an 87% increase in export volume, and a 35% increase in the probability of exit. Therefore, according to the findings and the importance of the role of experience for new exporters, starting the activity in countries with a similar structure with a lower entry cost is recommended