The project builds on the international trade literature that studies the export and import decisions of firms. In brief, this literature shows that relatively few firms export and that the firms that enter the international market are the most productive. The literature explains this pattern by saying that only productive firms can pay the costs of entering the international market. In other words, the complex pattern of firms' international linkages has been explained by a black box, as productivity measures are affected by everything from differences in product quality, product mix, management capabilities, organizational form to capital intensity and economies of scale. The main challenge for future research in international trade is to open up this box to explain in detail what matters when firms make their trade decisions. In particular, this is of importance for the design of different policy measures implemented to strengthen firms' opportunities in the global market. It will otherwise be difficult to design policies and predict their effects if this black box is not opened. The purpose of this project is thus to identify the underlying factors of firms' trade decisions and there are three main issues that will be highlighted: how firms organize the links and the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in these links.