This paper analyses the relationship between innovation and export status of Spanish manufacturing work cooperatives. Our working hypothesis is that innovation has a positive and significant impact on the cooperatives' exporting status. To carry out the empirical study we work with a wellknown and widely used Spanish statistical source of the manufacturing sector. Our findings indicate that innovation is positively and significantly related to the cooperatives' export status. Other variables such as size, age and wages also exert an influence on exporting decisions.