THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE, RESEARCH ENGAGEMENT, AND TECHNOLOGY AS PREDICTORS OF EXPORT ORIENTATION FOR FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

Sandi Findlay-Thompson
Karen Blotnicky
Mount Saint Vincent University
ABSTRACT
This study assesses the influence of entrepreneurial experience, business experience, size, and engagement in research and technology as predictors of export activity for women business owners in Atlantic Canada. Exporters are an economic driver of the Canadian economy and exporting can be an important strategic means of developing markets beyond Canada’s relatively small domestic market. The findings of this study confirmed that experience and research engagement were statistically significant discriminators between exporting and non-exporting firms. In contrast, engagement in technology adoption, technology investment, and using technology to improve efficiency and productivity were not significant predicting factors.