Motivations and barriers of export performance: Greek exports to the Balkans

Foreign market entry can play a very significant role in a nation’s economic prosperity. There are essentially four principal means of foreign market entry: exporting, licensing, joint-venture partnering and wholly owned foreign investment. Exporting represents one of the most common entry modes to international markets. A country’s ability to compete successfully in world markets reflects its economic strength and marginal competence over other nations. Cavusgil, in integrating various export development strategies, identified five distinct stages: domestic marketing, pre-export stage, experimental involvement, active involvement and committed involvement. Exports can result directly or indirectly in a decrease in the unemployment rate and an increase of domestic production and economic growth. The process by which a firm demonstrates exporting behaviour is usually conceived as evolving through various stages. Greek exports in South-Eastern European countries (Balkans) are exceptionally high. Within the Balkans, the Greek export share has shown a significant increase in the last 15 years and has reached one of the first places in the ranking of the region’s leading exporters. The increased exports towards the neighbouring countries indicate a major change in the structure of Greek export activity over a short time. This increase comes in a period when Greek exports to EU markets have been declining. Furthermore, many Greek firms expanded into Balkan countries through foreign direct investment or participation in the construction of large infrastructure projects. The majority of these investment initiatives are concentrated in the fields of trade, finance services and manufacturing. For example, Greek firms are the region’s biggest investors in the telecommunications sector. In the context of our study, the case of Greek exporting firms is of particular interest since it exemplifies very well a situation in which exporters have to decide on the level of involvement and follow strategies in regions perceived to be close at the physical or psychological distance. Greek exporting firms would consider Eastern Europe as physically closer than other