Factors Affecting Revenue Share of Iranian Tomato Paste Exporting Companies

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate factors affecting the revenue share of Iranian tomato paste exporting companies. A flexible estimation method was used on a two-dimensional panel data set, including 224 observations from 14 tomato paste manufacturing and exporting companies and 16 importing countries during 2005–12. Results showed that value added per employee in manufacturing or exporting companies and dummy variables (common border, religion, and number of documents needed to import) had a positive effect on the revenue share of a given company. The import tariff rates of selected countries and distance had a negative effect on the export revenue share of all companies. Accordingly, programmers and policymakers should provide background information about the productivity of labor force in these companies via researching, developing, and promoting production technologies, which will increase the export revenue share of this product. Furthermore, by making bilateral and multilateral contracts and agreements, the tariff rates can be reduced to increase the revenue share of the tomato paste export.