Determinants and Direction of Trading Companies′Development in Europe

Recently many EC countries have expressed an increasing interest in the development of strong trading companies (TCs) which will assist in the growth of national exports. However, a lack of clear direction for the envisaged TCs′ development has been observed. Attempts to identify the mechanisms by which TCs change their structure and strategies. A set of internal and external factors which influence TCs′ development and change has been identified and combined in a comprehensive conceptual framework. Both institutional and competitive (market) approaches are included. Based on this theoretical framework the direction of European TCs′ development route across a number of possible dimensions is explored. The research involved a sample of large EC TCs and a sample of EC environmental agents which were found to influence directly or indirectly TCs′ development.