– This paper aims to rely on a conceptual model that builds on, and synthesizes, the theoretical foundations of social capital (relational and cognitive) and cooperation. It assumes that the network of relationships and the set of resources embedded within it strongly influence the extent to which exporter-intermediary cooperation occurs.
– Following a quantitative methodological approach, a survey was applied to a sample of exporters to empirically test the proposed model.
– The findings reveal that among the six relationships, five are positively supported. Specifically, this study finds a positive and a significant impact of the two dimensions of social capital: cognitive (shared values) and relational (trust) on both commitment and cooperation. However, it did not support the impact of cognitive social capital on relational social capital.
– One possible shortfall of this research relates to the characteristics of different cultural environments that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face which may have influenced the results.
– Empirical findings are relevant as they may assist SME managers to invest in business relationships which enable the firms to achieve important competitive advantages.
– This article presents the original approach of looking at the link between relational social capital and export-intermediary relationships, which challenges the way this topic is generally examined.
