Occasional and perennial exporters

► We document that a number of smaller exporters enter into and exit from exporting multiple times. ► Large exporters have multiple exporting spells to the same country and often export the same goods. ► We show that a model with increasing marginal cost and stochastic demand reproduces these facts. ► It predicts that smaller firms enter exporting when there is a negative domestic demand shock. ► It also predicts that firms reduce domestic sales when entering exporting. The data confirm both.