The determinants of footwear exports in a Portuguese company

Abstract

Despite the associated sunk costs, the turnover in exports is fundamental for the sustainability of an internationalized company. The footwear industry is no exception. In fact, Portuguese companies in the footwear sector export 95% of its production. This is one of the industries with a positive contribution the Portuguese trade balance. This study aims to analyze the factors that influence footwear exports in a Portuguese company in the North of Portugal. For this purpose, a database with information from the company is analyzed. A time series with monthly data was collected, for the period between January 2017 and June 2020. To explain the determinants of exports, a demand function with sales volume as the dependent variable is used. Results show that, for the company under study, productivity, number of workers and lagged sales have a positive impact on company's exports. While, company's equity presents a negative impact. Workers' remuneration impact on exports is not statistically significant.