Dynamic Complementarity in Export Promotion: The Market Access Program in Fruits and Vegetables

Government-supported promotion in foreign markets may be justified when market failures exist, such as spillover externalities, where promotion of one commodity positively influences exports of another, or when market uncertainties cause planning horizons to be shorter than the persistent effects of promotion. A dynamic model of U.S. apple, almond, grape, and wine export supply is developed to test for these market failures. Promotion is viewed as an investment in establishing and maintaining a product's image. Evidence supporting the existence of each market failure is found. Exporters and program administrators may fail to account for them in export promotion planning.