<p>Dos cuestiones relevantes en el ámbito de la selección de mercados de exportación (SME en lo sucesivo) confluyen en este artículo: profundizar sobre la decisión de SME, identificando la presencia de distancia psíquica como factor limitativo de la decisión; y ante la ausencia de una definición generalmente aceptada de la distancia psíquica, ofrecer un constructo ecléctico debidamente contrastado.</p><p>La encuesta de cuestionario es el recurso empleado para obtener la información necesaria para lograr los objetivos establecidos, y la estadística descriptiva es la técnica empleada para validar el constructo propuesto y conocer las limitaciones del mismo.</p><p>La decisión de SME es compleja, por la intervención de la propia estrategia de negocio y la percepción de la distancia psíquica que los mercados potenciales transmiten a los decisores. En el caso de la muestra analizada, pymes españolas exportadoras de bienes de consumo, la distancia psíquica actúa en las primeras etapas de exportación, circunscribiendo la SME a países psíquicamente próximos. Se ha identificado un patrón psíquico-gradualista que se estabiliza cuando la experiencia modera la percepción de distancia. A partir de ese momento, las empresas se encuentran con el know-how preciso para abordar mercados potenciales más complejos.</p><p class="Formatolibre">Two relevant issues in the area of export market selection (EMS hereafter) converge in this article: to delve into how the decision is constructed, identifying the presence of psychic distance as a limiting factor, and in the absence of a generally accepted definition of psychic distance, offer an eclectic construct duly contrasted.</p><p>The questionnaire survey is the resource used to obtain the necessary information to achieve the established objectives, and descriptive statistics is the technique used to validate the proposed construct and to know the limitations. </p><p>The research focuses on small and medium-sized Spanish exporters of consumer goods because of the relevance they have in the Spanish economy as a whole. Exporters of services or large companies are not included in this study, in one case because of the product and in the other, their resource availability needed a differentiated approach.</p><p>The decision of SME is complex, by the intervention of the own business strategy and the perception of the psychic distance that the potential markets transmit to the decision makers. In the case of the analyzed sample, the psychic distance acts in the first stages of export circumscribing the EMS to psychically close countries. A psychic-gradualist pattern has been identified that stabilizes when experience moderates the perception of psychic distance. From then on, companies have the precise know-how to address more complex potential markets</p><p> </p>

The internationalization of SMEs is generally characterized by a progressive multi-stage process, in which organizations gradually acquire knowledge and skills that strengthen their commitment to the outside world. International experience – a form of autonomous accumulation of know-how that allows the understanding of potential markets – influences the decision-making process for selecting export markets. Although gradual acquisition of international experience allows an increase in export activity in more physically distant markets, this gradualist postulate does not have an indefinite validity. This paper analyzes the limits of this international experience in terms of psychic distance, examining whether those SMEs that have obtained enough international experience to develop markets of greater complexity tend to select more complex, i.e., more psychically distant, countries. The findings generally support the idea that the relationship between international experience and psychically distant markets ceases when SMEs have obtained enough international experience, after which it is the objectives of a strictly business nature which condition the decision to select potential markets. For these reasons, when the organization has obtained enough skills and international experience to develop markets of greater complexity, the managers choose to select more complex i.e., more psychically distant, countries.

<p class="Formatolibre">El sector de la construcción a lo largo del periodo 1990-2013 ha protagonizado un papel fundamental en el desarrollo de la provincia de León al haber contribuido a mejorar la posición competitiva provincial, así como las condiciones de vida de los ciudadanos al haber proporcionado elementos de bienestar básicos para la sociedad.</p><p class="Formatolibre">El comportamiento sectorial de la construcción a lo largo de los años analizados, a grandes rasgos y salvando ciertas particularidades, ha replicado el ciclo económico vivido a nivel nacional. De esta forma, el sector de la construcción leonés ha participado de la etapa de recuperación de la crisis anterior de 1992-1993 durante los años 1995-1999. A partir del año 2000 y hasta el 2009 el sector vive una intensa fase expansiva, llegando a aportar el 12,62% del PIB provincial y el 14% del empleo. A partir del 2010, y con casi 18 meses de retraso respecto al inicio de la crisis a nivel nacional, el sector empezó a mostrar alarmantes signos de debilidad, experimentando una intensa y duradera depresión que ha afectado al  nivel de output de otros sectores que tienen un elevado grado de dependencia de la construcción.</p><p class="Formatolibre">A pesar de la intensa crisis sufrida por este sector desde 2007, la actividad constructora sigue siendo importante para el conjunto de la economía provincial, puesto que el 17,36% del total de las empresas leonesas tienen actividad directa con la construcción y sigue aportando cifras próximas al 10% del VAB provincial y en términos de empleo el sector sigue dando empleo a 15.200 trabajadores en la provincia de León. En este sentido, es necesario indicar que la crisis, además de haber expulsado a un notable número de trabajadores del sector,  ha causado un deterioro importante de la calidad contractual de las nuevas incorporaciones, incrementándose la temporalidad y una reducción notable de los salarios como principales características de ajuste del mercado de trabajo sectorial.</p><p class="Formatolibre">The construction industry over the period 1990-2013 has carried out a fundamental role in the development of the Province of Leon, as it has contributed to the improvement of its competitive position and living conditions of its inhabitants and has provided wellness infraestructure, basic to society.</p><p class="Formatolibre">The performance of the construction industry over the years analyzed has broadly, and saving certain peculiarities, replicated the economic cycle experienced nationwide. Thus, the construction industry of the province of Leon has participated in the recovery phase of the previous crisis of 1992-1993 during the years 1995-1999. From 2000 and until 2009 the industry faced an intense upswing, reaching 12.62% contribution to the provincial GDP and 14% of employment. It was on 2010, almost 18 months later than the beginning of the nationwide crisis, when the sector began to show worrying signs of weakness, experiencing an intense and lasting depression that has affected the production and output level of other sectors that have a high degree of dependence on construction industry.</p><p class="Formatolibre">Despite the intense crisis experienced by the sector since 2007, construction activity remains important for the entire provincial economy. Forasmuch as 17.36% of the total of Leon companies have direct activity with construction and its industry continues to provide figures close to 10% of the provincial VAB in terms of employment and the sector still employs 15,200 workers in the province. In this sense, the fact remains that the crisis not only has driven a significant number of workers out of the sector, but it has also caused a significant deterioration of the contractual quality of the new jobs, and resulting in a significant reduction in wages as major characteristics of work sector market adjustment.</p>

<p class="Formatolibre">El sector de la construcción a lo largo del periodo 1990-2013 ha protagonizado un papel fundamental en el desarrollo de la provincia de León al haber contribuido a mejorar la posición competitiva provincial, así como las condiciones de vida de los ciudadanos al haber proporcionado elementos de bienestar básicos para la sociedad.</p><p class="Formatolibre">El comportamiento sectorial de la construcción a lo largo de los años analizados, a grandes rasgos y salvando ciertas particularidades, ha replicado el ciclo económico vivido a nivel nacional. De esta forma, el sector de la construcción leonés ha participado de la etapa de recuperación de la crisis anterior de 1992-1993 durante los años 1995-1999. A partir del año 2000 y hasta el 2009 el sector vive una intensa fase expansiva, llegando a aportar el 12,62% del PIB provincial y el 14% del empleo. A partir del 2010, y con casi 18 meses de retraso respecto al inicio de la crisis a nivel nacional, el sector empezó a mostrar alarmantes signos de debilidad, experimentando una intensa y duradera depresión que ha afectado al  nivel de output de otros sectores que tienen un elevado grado de dependencia de la construcción.</p><p class="Formatolibre">A pesar de la intensa crisis sufrida por este sector desde 2007, la actividad constructora sigue siendo importante para el conjunto de la economía provincial, puesto que el 17,36% del total de las empresas leonesas tienen actividad directa con la construcción y sigue aportando cifras próximas al 10% del VAB provincial y en términos de empleo el sector sigue dando empleo a 15.200 trabajadores en la provincia de León. En este sentido, es necesario indicar que la crisis, además de haber expulsado a un notable número de trabajadores del sector,  ha causado un deterioro importante de la calidad contractual de las nuevas incorporaciones, incrementándose la temporalidad y una reducción notable de los salarios como principales características de ajuste del mercado de trabajo sectorial.</p><p class="Formatolibre">The construction industry over the period 1990-2013 has carried out a fundamental role in the development of the Province of Leon, as it has contributed to the improvement of its competitive position and living conditions of its inhabitants and has provided wellness infraestructure, basic to society.</p><p class="Formatolibre">The performance of the construction industry over the years analyzed has broadly, and saving certain peculiarities, replicated the economic cycle experienced nationwide. Thus, the construction industry of the province of Leon has participated in the recovery phase of the previous crisis of 1992-1993 during the years 1995-1999. From 2000 and until 2009 the industry faced an intense upswing, reaching 12.62% contribution to the provincial GDP and 14% of employment. It was on 2010, almost 18 months later than the beginning of the nationwide crisis, when the sector began to show worrying signs of weakness, experiencing an intense and lasting depression that has affected the production and output level of other sectors that have a high degree of dependence on construction industry.</p><p class="Formatolibre">Despite the intense crisis experienced by the sector since 2007, construction activity remains important for the entire provincial economy. Forasmuch as 17.36% of the total of Leon companies have direct activity with construction and its industry continues to provide figures close to 10% of the provincial VAB in terms of employment and the sector still employs 15,200 workers in the province. In this sense, the fact remains that the crisis not only has driven a significant number of workers out of the sector, but it has also caused a significant deterioration of the contractual quality of the new jobs, and resulting in a significant reduction in wages as major characteristics of work sector market adjustment.</p>