| Because of the huge U.S. trade deficit, federal and state agencies have been interested in increasing the number of U.S. exporting firms. Since there are many small and medium sized non-exporting firms which have the capability of exporting, increased attention has been given to increasing exporting among this group. However, past efforts have not been as successful as was hoped. Various reasons have been given for the lack of success and suggestions have been made concerning the need to determine the export assistance needs of these firms.; The purpose of this study was to (1) determine the export assistance needs of small and medium sized non-exporting U.S. manufacturing firms, (2) to determine if any differences exist between exporters and non-exporters in the perception of those needs, (3) to determine if any differences in the perceived needs were affected by state or industry factors, and (4) to determine why some non-exporters were not interested in exporting.; Data were gathered from 305 firms in the textile, and non-electric machinery industries, in the states of Georgia and North Carolina. Findings indicated no overall differences in need perception attributable to export status, or to state or industry factors. However, there were some differences between the exporting and non-exporting firms in their perception of need for assistance with a few specific issues. A major finding was that firms in this study did not separate export assistance needs into functional categories, such as marketing and finance, as had been assumed. Rather, they perceived the need for export assistance to be a need for help with the technical details of exporting. Recommendations for formulation and implementation of future export assistance programs and suggestions for future research were based on the findings of the study. |
