*Knowledge Spillover Effects: Impact of Export Learning Effects on Companies' Innovative… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86255*

from data of companies representing 33 countries, published between 1995 and 2004. The conclusion is formed from two key statements: (1) exporting companies appear to be more efficient and innovative than non-exporting companies and (2) as a result of a "self-selection" process, more productive firms are prone to enter export markets, while export activities do not necessarily lead to improvements in effectiveness.

The first fact finds its confirmation in the papers [31, 32] arguing that it is the expansion of the company's footprint and sales market that encourages managers to introduce innovations and various improvements resulting from an increase in efficiency and sustainable growth. The second fact is presented at the theoretical and empirical level in [33]: innovation activity and research create a competitive advantage for a company, which leads to productivity growth that increases the likelihood of becoming an exporter and gaining a foothold not only in the national but also in the international market. An intuitive suggestion regarding a relationship between innovations and exports has been confirmed by experts at various times; however, the relationship between these processes is ambiguous and should be researched in more detail using various industries, companies, and scientific institutions.

The "self-selection" effect is analyzed in [34] on the basis of register data with the addition of customs statistics. Previous experience in a foreign market is a key to success in the future. Globalization leads to an increase in innovation activity, as shown in the papers [35, 36]. [37] test the hypotheses regarding innovation incentives for processing enterprises when entering a foreign market at macro and micro levels (panel data for 2005 and 2009 obtained during two surveys).

Studies that address the question whether exports influence growth or growth are influenced by exports actually appeared in 1995 when Bernard and Jensen [38] published a number of articles that turned how things were viewed upside down. The same phenomenon was addressed in papers by [39, 40]. They used a vast sample of data obtained from surveys represented by US official statistics to explore the effectiveness of firms across all industrial sectors from a different perspective, depending on whether they were engaged in exports.
