This paper aims to study the direct and indirect influence of three important intangible resources: export knowledge, negotiation skills and specialisation and trustworthiness on export intermediary performance via the competence to reduce clients’ transaction costs.
The study has been provided with the official database of export intermediary firms by the Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. The samples of 400 export intermediary firms were identified from the 1,486 population firms. The postal questionnaires were sent to sample firms. Ordinary least square regression analysis has been adopted to test the hypotheses of the study.
The results indicate that valuable resources of export knowledge, negotiation skills and specialisation and trustworthiness significantly and positively affect both export intermediary performance and the competence to reduce clients’ transaction costs. The competence to reduce clients’ transaction costs partially mediates the relationship between resources and export intermediary performance.
A “cost-based” perspective needs to be supplemented in future research with a more behavioural approach.
Export intermediaries must be able to deliver “true added value” to remain a viable organisational form, hence, the intermediaries need ceaselessly to acquire, utilise and develop resources and capabilities in reducing clients’ export-related transaction costs.
From a public policy perspective, gaining more knowledge about the role of export intermediaries can greatly facilitate the export promotion efforts in which most nations’ governments are involved.
This study is a first attempt to study the mediating effect of the competence to reduce transaction costs, which mediates the relationship between resources and performance of export intermediary.
