Effective ways to the global competitiveness of food industry companies

Abstract

Competition in the export of agricultural by-products, especially in the developing countries, is inevitable in the global market. The aim of this study was to investigate factors that may influence the revenue share of exporting tomato paste companies to be more competitive in Asian and global markets. A gravity-like model was specified in panel data form including 12 Iranian companies exporting to 16 partner countries, i.e., 192 cross-sections during 8 years. In contrast to similar models, the dependent variable involved fractional data and zeros. Therefore, the generalized linear family was used for the model estimation. Except number of documents required to import, the estimation results expectedly show positive effect of value added per employee, common language and religion on the export revenue share of tomato paste. The negative effect is associated with distance and tariff. It is suggested that the authorities have negotiations with partners, plan to freer trade, update trade equipment and change brands in marketing. Furthermore, we recommended improving technology in production and processing stages. Such considerations would even dwell indirectly the rural society welfare.

Keywords

• by-product export| competitiveness| global market| tariff| share values| panel data