Behind the success and failure of U.S. export intermediaries

by Mike W. Peng

Trading across borders, export intermediaries are specialized service firms that connect domestic manufacturers with overseas buyers. How do they do it? What determines their success or failure? Have they really lowered transaction costs for their clients, minimized agency costs, and acquired competitive resources and capabilities in world trade? Peng develops an integrated model of export intermediary performance. He focuses on the nature of export transactions and manufacturer-intermediary relationships that may lead to agency problems, and underlines the importance of valuable, unique, and hard-to-imitate resources and capabilities for intermediaries' competitive advantages. Peng employs a distinct analytical approach that highlights three underlying themes - transactions, agents, and resources - then tests his model with six critical case studies and a 1,000-firm mail survey. Operators of export intermediaries seeking ways to improve their performance, aspiring entrepreneurs studyi