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Intangible assets and SMEs’ export behavior: a meta-analytical perspective

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Abstract

Thanks to their dominant role in fostering socioeconomic prosperity, exporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are perceived to be a major societal asset. Coming out of the great financial crisis, initiatives to nurture their (export) competitiveness have been high on the political agenda. In this vein, a growing literature explores the pertinence of firm-specific factors for explaining differences in SMEs’ export behavior. However, the puzzle of how intangible, knowledge-based assets, such as human and relational capital, contribute to establishing a viable position in export markets remains. By synthesizing empirical evidence from 167 studies, this meta-analytic path analysis reveals significant differential direct and indirect effects of human and relational capital endowment on dimensions of export behavior. Concurrently, our analysis uncovered that positive influences of intangible assets are context-dependent. In fact, human resources appear to be particularly pertinent for exporting SMEs in developing economies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are most grateful to the editors of this Special Issue, Alain Fayolle, Francisco Liñán, and Justin Paul, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their valuable and insightful comments and recommendations.

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  1. Department of Economics and Business, Chair of Strategic and International Management, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Licher Strasse 62, 35394, Giessen, Germany

    Stephanie E. Mansion & Andreas Bausch

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Table 7 Overview and descriptives of studies included in the meta-analysis
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Mansion, S.E., Bausch, A. Intangible assets and SMEs’ export behavior: a meta-analytical perspective. Small Bus Econ 55, 727–760 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-019-00182-5

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