Do the Swedish Trade Council and the Foreign Service Promote Exports?

Sammanfattning: Export promotion policies are widely used in most countries. The aim is to increase exports to foreign markets and in this, Sweden is no exception. In this study, my objective is to investigate whether Swedish export-promoting activities abroad, realized through the Swedish Trade Council (STC) and the Foreign Service (i.e. embassies and consulates), are associated with higher aggregate Swedish merchandise exports. I estimate a panel data specification of the gravity model, widely used in analyzing international trade, for the period 1995-2009. The empirical results suggest that there is a positive systematic relationship between the STC, the Foreign Service and total Swedish exports and that Swedish representation abroad have an increasing effect on trade in more marginal export markets.