Abstract

This study aims to identify some of the barriers that may hinder potential exporters in a developing nation.  It is hypothesized that firms with high export experience will perceive a lower level of export barriers than those with low export experience (H₁), and firms with high export commitment will perceive a lower level of export barriers than those with low export commitment (H₂).  The analysis was carried out on 228 Saudi Arabian manufacturing firms that obtained certificate of origin (COO) which is required for exporting. The factor analysis produced five factors:  government policy, procedural and technical complexity, perceived strategic limitation, contextual differences, and export cost and profitability. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) analysis on these factors showed significant export experience (EE) main effect at the 0.05 level.  The export commitment (EC) main effect is significant at the 0.10 level. To determine which factors are responsible for the statistically significant MANOVA main effects, univariate tests were performed for each of the five individual factors. The results indicate that firms with high export experience show a much lower level of perceived procedural and technical complexity barrier and export cost and profitability barrier. In addition, firms with high export commitment perceive a much lower level of the government policy and procedural and technical complexity barriers than those with low export commitment.  The results also point that neither export experience nor export commitment can help firms overcome the perceived strategic limitations and contextual differences in exporting.  Implications of the findings are discussed.  The results provide partial support for both hypotheses 1 and 2.

Key words:  Export barriers, export obstacles, export experience, export commitment, Saudi Arabia, Arab, international business, international marketing.