Exports during the pandemic: enhanced by digitalization

ABSTRACT How are exports shaped by digitalization? Scholars debate a global digital divide that impacts internationalization. The pandemic disrupted exports, so the pandemic provides opportunity to examine digitalization as a tool for recovery of exports. Analysis of 47 sampled countries shows that wealth, especially in the West, facilitated early digitalization, but that other regions are catching up, externally enabled by resilience in the pandemic. Analysis of 7073 businesses sampled representatively in several countries shows that early digitalization and especially recent digitalization in businesses form capabilities promoting their exports. Findings contribute to accounting for eco-systemic embeddedness of digitalization shaping exporting.