In a interview with Jornal de Negócios, Miguel Ferreira, co-author of the study Surviving the Perfect Storm: Exports, Budgetary Austerity and Business Heterogeneity with Manuel Adelino, from Duke University, Paulo Fagandini, and Francisco Queiró, from Nova SBE, explained that following the economic and financial crisis, and the application of the Troika rescue program in Portugal, the national economy experienced the so-called "export miracle": sales abroad rose 51.6% between 2009 and 2014. Which companies were responsible for this phenomenon? Mostly, suppliers from the public sector. The four researchers wanted to know how exports in Portugal could rise so much, and so quickly, during and after the crisis. To do this, they found out companies had an above-average performance and found they were the most exposed to the public sector that registered the greatest growth in exports following the crisis. Among these, the larger and more mature ones resisted better.