This paper investigates the role of firm-to-firm relationships in export market dynamics, documenting the following stylized facts for French exporters. First, exporters grow in a foreign market by expanding their customer base; the average French exporter doubles its number of buyers after 8 years. Second, sales to existing customers remain the predominant source of growth in a foreign market, with long-lasting relationships contributing to most export values. Third, as a mechanism driving firms' growth in a relationship, prices fall as a relationship ages. Fourth, I exploit the Brexit referendum as a quasi-natural experiment to examine how firm-to-firm relationships adjust in response to changes in market access. I find that French exporters with long-lasting relationships in the UK are less affected by the referendum shock and exhibit higher exchange rate pass-through. Overall, these findings indicate that long-lasting relationships represent a crucial margin for export market growth and in shielding exporters from changing market conditions.

中文翻译：

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企业与企业之间的关系在出口商动态中的作用

本文研究了企业与企业之间的关系在出口市场动态中的作用，记录了法国出口商的以下典型事实。首先，出口商通过扩大客户群在国外市场发展；法国出口商的平均买家数量在 8 年后翻了一番。其次，对现有客户的销售仍然是国外市场增长的主要来源，长期的关系贡献了大部分出口价值。第三，作为一种推动企业在关系中成长的机制，价格会随着关系的老化而下降。第四，我将英国脱欧公投作为一项准自然实验，以研究企业之间的关系如何根据市场准入的变化进行调整。我发现与英国有长期关系的法国出口商受公投冲击的影响较小，并且表现出较高的汇率传导。总体而言，这些研究结果表明，持久的关系对于出口市场的增长和保护出口商免受市场条件变化的影响至关重要。