Institutions and Export Performance in 26 Transition Economies Besnik A. Krasniqi and Sameeksha Desai 1 Introduction An emerging policy trend has been to target the quality or activities of entrepre- neurs, for example, in initiatives of the OECD (2011, 2013). Institutions can play an important role in shaping the nature of entrepreneurial activity (Aidis and Mickie- wicz 2006; Autio and Fu 2013; Krasniqi and Desai 2016; Welter and Smallbone 2011; Krasniqi and Mustafa 2016), but there is limited understanding about which institutions matter, and how, for particular activities. In transition economies (TEs), the unique institutional and socioeconomic conditions of early transition led to different types and outcomes of entrepreneurial engagement compared to more mature market economies (Earle and Sakova 2000; Grilo and Thurik 2006; Smallbone and Welter 2009; Krasniqi 2014). The way an economy moves toward a market economy has been recognized as a critical factor for export performance in these countries (see Rodrik et al. 2004; Kaminski et al. 1996). This chapter investigates how key institutions shape export performance across 26 transition economies. Age and size trends across countries are of particular interest because this provides insight related to new and small firms. Average firm size and age may indicate the distance from minimum efficient scale in a country (Krasniqi 2006) suggesting opportunities for growth until firms reach this minimum efficient point. By choosing to export, smaller and younger firms may exploit growth opportunities in foreign markets and in this way may be able to reach minimum efficient scale faster, but also may face resources constraints. B.A. Krasniqi (*) University of Prishtina ‘Hasan Prishtina’, Prishtina, Kosovo e-mail: besnik.krasniqi@uni-pr.edu S. Desai Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: desai@indiana.edu © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 A. Sauka, A. Chepurenko (eds.), Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies, Societies and Political Orders in Transition, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57342-7_4 57