Is there an empirical link between trade liberalisation and export performance?

A panel data approach is used to investigate both the steady-state and the transitional impact of trade liberalisation on export performance within a sample of selected OECD countries. The results find trade policy to be a largely insignificant determinant of export performance. Domestic competitiveness and world demand are found to be the most consistent drivers of export performance in both forms of the model for the sample countries, with domestic demand having a significant negative impact in the dynamic model.