The impact of countries’ credit rating scores on the export performance of companies

In the research, a conceptual model with the export performance scale EXPERF (Export Performance Scale) being the dependent variable and with country credit ratings being the independent variables has been developed, and it is intended to empirically investigate the impact of the country credit rating score on the export performance of enterprises by focusing on the country credit rating among many factors that affect the export performance of enterprises. Regarding the model, in the first stage, the relation between the country’s credit rating covering the years between 1993-2016 and the export performance of the enterprises is examined using secondary data through panel unit root tests analysis. In this context, the H1 hypothesis that the country credit rating score given by the credit rating agencies has an impact on the export performance of companies is supported, and it is found that the credit rating score of Turkey affects the export performance of businesses. In the field research covering the second stage of the research, ISO 500 enterprises constitute the universe in which the data is collected. A questionnaire regarding the perceptions of business executives about the export performance of companies in 2013, when Turkey’s credit rating score was raised up to investable level, and in 2016, when Turkey’s credit rating score was lowered, was developed based on the EXPERF scale, and the export performance was measured with online or faceto-face application of the questionnaire to the business executives who participated in the study voluntarily. A judicial sampling method was used in the study, and 306 business executives responded to the questionnaire. The H2 hypothesis that there is a difference between the change in the country credit rating and the export performance of the enterprises is not rejected according to the EXPERF scale, which measures the increase in the country credit rating in 2013 and the decrease in the country credit rating in 2016. Export performance of enterprises differs significantly in the periods when the credit rating of the country decreases and rises.