Three decades of export competitiveness literature: systematic review, synthesis and future research agenda

Purpose This review has two purposes: (1) to systematically analyse the literature on export competitiveness (EC) and (2) to provide an overview of various determinants and the methodological trends in the subject field, making it possible to develop a roadmap for future researchers. Design/methodology/approach The systematic literature review (SLR) method was employed in this paper. The authors have covered three decades of research articles published in Scopus listed journals between 1991 and 2020. The determinants of EC are synthesized and widely used theories, and methodologies are identified and classified. The authors have also provided directions for future research. Findings The key determinants identified are labour and capital productivity, labour costs, exchange and real effective exchange rate (REER), domestic gross domestic product (GDP), trade liberalization and barriers. The findings reveal that EC is now a scientific measure, since the studies in this subject field have moved towards measuring EC and its determinants. Originality/value There has been no comprehensive review in this area exploring the theories, context, constructs and methodologies until now. Therefore, this review provides deep insights into the topic and also offers a unified picture of the subject field.