Environmental and Managerial Factors in Export-led Development: An Explorative Test of Porter's Competitive Advantage of Nations

Abstract

Traditional economic theory predicts that factor cost advantages, coupled with an open economy, are crucial to the development of an efficient export sector. Porter's recent work has offered a more coherent hypothesis. This study of nontraditional exporters from Central America finds support for Porter's work. External environmental factors per se do not translate into competitive advantage; they do so only insofar as they translate into managerial competencies and appropriate marketing strategies. Policy guidelines are developed from these findings.

Infrastructure Investments in Developing Economies

“…Empirical evidence shows that those countries that deepened their integration with the global economy have achieved growth much higher than those developing countries that did not or have slowly integrated into global markets Newfarmer et al 2002;Samli 2002). Opening to international competition is considered the starting point for developing countries (Dominguez et al 1993). The important issue for developing countries is thus not about whether to trade but should be more about how to trade in order to secure improvement in economic performance (Thirlwall 2000;Taylor 2002).…”

“…Integrating into the multilateral trading systems, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), also requires the developing countries to implement trading agreements governed by the WTO such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) for trade in goods, the General Agreement for Trade in Services (GATS) for trade in services, as well as other aspects of international exchange of goods and services, such as trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS), sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS), government procurement and so on (Michalopoulos 1999a;Hoekman et al 2002). However, more recently, it is argued that comparative advantage may not provide the complete answer for the development 4.4 International Market Access Issues and Trade Policies … 59 of an efficient export sector; a more coherent strategy may lie in competitive advantage (Dominguez et al 1993;Lowinger et al 1995). Developing countries are therefore recommended to combine reducing trade barriers with other policies that are conducive to improving the investment environment and macroeconomic stability, and strengthening financial, regulatory and institutional capacity with technical and financial assistance from bilateral donors and international organizations (Rodrik 1999;Wilson 2001;Prowse 2002).…”

Globalization and Development: An Expanded Macromarketing View

“…Rather, the variables of interest in most studies tend to be more consistent with the traditional view of modernization. Those variables include trade barriers (Lowinger, Lal, and Arunthanes 1995;Mathur and Mathur 1997), competitive advantage (Dominguez, Rose, and Sequeira 1993;Samli and Jacobs 1995), marketing institutions (Carmen and Dominguez 2001;Cundiff 1982;Green, Mandhachitara, and Tasman 2001;O'Shaughnessy and O'Shaughnessy 2000), and trade liberalization (Carmen and Dominguez 2001;Mathur and Mathur 1997;Mullen 1993;Mullen, Doney, and Becker 1996). In toto, these variables point to the primacy of economic constructs in studies of development and marketing, even within the macromarketing domain.…”

The Determinants of Nicaraguan Nonagricultural Exporters: A Firm-Level Perspective

“…Recent papers have focused, for example, on Britain (Beleska-Spasova, Glaister, & Stride, 2012), Chile (Á lvarez, Faruq, & López, 2013), China (Zhou, Lin, & Li, 2010), Malaysia (Mohamad, Ali, Ramayah, 2009), Slovenia (Kostevc, 2009), and Tunisia (Khemakhem, 2010). The literature is virtually nonexistent for Central America, with only five papers dealing substantially with regional or country exporters (Bair & Peters, 2006;Dominguez, Rose, & Sequeira, 1993;Lederman, Rodríguez-Clare, & Xu, 2011;Padilla-Pérez & Hernández, 2010;Ugarte, Bussolo, & Iacovone, 2012). There is no empirical study focused solely on Nicaraguan exporters.…”

“…There is no empirical study focused solely on Nicaraguan exporters. While dated, Dominguez, Rose, and Sequeira (1993) surveyed 253 nontraditional exporting firms from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama in 1987. Utilizing Porter's national competitiveness framework (Porter, 1990), the authors sought to uncover a clustering effect within Central American exporters.…”