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Abstract

DR. NORMAN PHIL P) IS HEAD OF THE SC i00Lo of B1tsiness and associate professorof initeinational business at Charles Stii-t Univei-sitv-Murray Campus, in Albury, Aiustralia. This paper is based oni data collected in a research project funded by the Rutral Industries Research anid D)evelopment C,orporationi, Australia. The lai-get ploject examiined the overall e xpoi t behaviour of food and beverage processiing manufacturers located in the ut v-al (nion-mietropolitan) regions of Atusti-alia's two most populous states, New South WAales and Victoria. The size of firimi lihas often been hypothesised aIs beinig negatively related to its propensitx to engage actively in export activity. The aboxe r-esearclh project, based on a multivariate analysis of the effects of the numerous and frequently studied firmspecific and mnanagerially-related explanatorx variables, did not confirm thlis hx potlhesis. A significant proportion of vcry smnall food processing firms (havin-10o 1O o0 fexwer emnployees and genelnallx less than A$1 million trl ovei) ver e fotind to be actively engagedl in e(xpco t activity. This paperconcentrates on these xlerv small, family-type enterl)ises (VSEs). It seeks to deter-milne xwhiclh of the firm-specific and iuii ii Ageriall -rrelated vTariables most stroinglx determirine the propensity foi VSEs to export and to differentiate theim Iil omll tble ir noni-exporting, VSE coutllterparts. Then, using the same set of explanatory variables, it asks whether andl on X01bat basis we cani differentiate thle VSE exporteis from their lar-ger-sizedl expo)rting cotunterparts.

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The Export Propensity of the Very Small Enterprise (VSE)

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