... developed and emerging markets. Thirdly, it points at how SMEs develop alternative informal arrangements to overcome any barriers created by institutional voids. The past two decades have witnessed a shift in the framing of institutions: from given background conditions to mechanisms of direct...

... discriminated the two groups were insufficient production and technical know‐how, insufficient financial resources and high transportation costs. The first two barriers were perceived as more important by those companies that continued to export, while the latter was more important to ex‐exporters...

... that the increasing competitive pressures in the world market constituted the most severe impediment to the export initiation process. A number of organizational determinants exhibited a discriminating effect on certain export barriers. Specifically, there was a tendency by firms with no prior export experience...