Integration & Trade Journal: Volume 17: No. 37: July-December, 2013

In spite of the fact that they make up more than 90% of firms and account for a substantial portion of employment in these countries, rather little is known about the role of small- and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) trade. In particular, there are a series of pending yet pivotal questions, such as: To what extent and how do SMEs contribute to their countries exports? How internationalized are LAC SMEs compared to SMEs in other world regions? How diversified are LAC SMEs exports across products and destinations? What are the key bottlenecks to LAC SME internationalization? This issue of the Journal intends to drive a holistic, thoughtful and targeted discussion of patterns of SME internationalization and its major bottlenecks and how they can be (or not) mitigated most effectively. In spite of the fact that they make up more than 90% of firms and account for a substantial portion of employment in these countries, rather little is known about the role of small- and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) trade. In particular, there are a series of pending yet pivotal questions, such as: To what extent and how do SMEs contribute to their countries¿ exports? How internationalized are LAC SMEs compared to SMEs in other world regions? How diversified are LAC SMEs¿ exports across products and destinations? What are the key bottlenecks to LAC SME internationalization? This issue of the Journal intends to drive a holistic, thoughtful and targeted discussion of patterns of SME internationalization and its major bottlenecks and how they can be (or not) mitigated most effectively. Integration & Trade Journal N° 37 (July-December 2013);La internacionalización está determinada por la interacción de diferentes factores. Un primer conjunto de factores corresponde a la dimensión macroeconómica y abarca, entre otros, las políticas macroeconómicas y el clima de negocios. Un segundo conjunto de factores puede agruparse genéricamente en la categoría de costos comerciales, como los aranceles, los costos de transporte, los procedimientos comerciales, las barreras a la información y sus determinantes. Los aranceles son significativamente más bajos que hace veinte años como resultado de las negociaciones multilaterales, las reformas de política comercial implementadas unilateralmente por los países y los acuerdos comerciales regionales suscriptos entre ellos, pero los costos de transporte, tanto nacionales como