Trade facilitation factors: national versus firm level

The importance of international trade unequivocally imposes the imperative for its further promotion. The paper presents the state-of-the-art and analyzes the factors that facilitate trade. The conceptual framework aims to indicate the importance of continuous trade facilitation, present the related literature, and provide guidelines for further contributions to increase international trade's intensity, efficiency, and volume. To comprehensively analyze and present valid conclusions, trade facilitation factors are considered in two ways: 1) at the level of national economies, presenting the factors that contribute to countries’ exports/imports; and 2) at the level of individual companies, pointing out determinants for easier access to foreign markets. This way, a systematized overview of factors facilitating international trade is presented at the macroeconomic and firm levels. Also, the article provides recommendations for future development with special attention on non-tariff measures, export/import procedures, trade logistics, and modern technologies in facilitating international trade. The presented research framework is dedicated to policymakers and international trade managers. At the same time, it serves the purpose of future empirical research that would test and compare the impact of identified factors on the volume of international trade.