Factors Hindering Export Development in Africa: Empirical Evidence ...

HYPOTHESESH1: Export knowledge barriers within a firm will affect its ability to enter the export market.H2. Internal resources constraints within a firm will affect its ability to enter the export market.H3. Procedural barriers within a firm will affect its ability to enter the export market.H4: Exogenous barriers within a firm will affect its ability to enter the export market.METHODOLOGYSampleA questionnaire survey was used to elicit responses from small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) in Nigeria. The data for this study was collected in the spring of 2007. The sample wascomposed of firms listed in the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) export promotiongroup directory. From this directory we selected five industrial sectors which met ourpredetermined criteria: (1) meet the definition of a small and medium enterprise defined by(Storey, 1994) as employing between 10 and 500 employees,(2) manufacture or export thefollowing products, food and beverages, textile and clothing, plastics and chemical, and leatherand shoes, (3) locate in industrial and manufacturing cities of Aba, Kano, Lagos, and PortHarcourt, and (4) have a minimum annual turnover of six million naira about ($50, 000). Arandom selection of 140 firms from the list was successfully contacted through a letter and faxrequesting their participation in the research. The firms identified from the list were personallyvisited or contacted by telephone for permission to participate in the study. To avoid loss anddelay due to the weaknesses in the communication and postal system in Nigeria a drop-off andpick-up method was adopted. This method ensured distribution and collection procedures, whichwere systematic and controlled by the lead investigator. Eight trained research assistants werehired and charged with the responsibility of distribution and collection of the surveyquestionnaires. A total of 96 usable surveys were received, which provided a response rate of69%. Of the 96 firms, 42 or (44%) are exporting firms and 54 or (56%) are non-exporting firms.SURVEY INSTRUMENTExport barriersThe export barrier was measured by the questionnaires developed by [24] and [23]. In thequestionnaire the respondent was asked to indicate to what extent he/she considered that variousdifferent export barriers acted as obstacles to the initiation or expansion of his/her firm’s exportactivity. Five-point Likert scales were used for this purpose, with responses ranging from ‘not anobstacle’ to ‘major obstacle’. Export barriers was measured by the following criteria: (1) lack ofknowledge of best potential markets; (2) lack of finances for market research; (3) lack of staff forexport planning; (4) effect of strong foreign competition; (5) general lack of knowledge of howto export, (6) lack of transportation and shipping costs, (7) language and cultural barriers, (8)Corruption, ( (9) poor infrastructure, (10) differences in exchange rates, and (11) bureaucraticbottlenecks or red tapes. In addition, respondents were asked to rank order what obstacle theyconsider to be the most important export barriers. Table 1 shows that lack of market knowledgewas ranked as the most important barrier, with a (mean of 4.60) followed by lack of exportfinance with a mean of (4.55) and the least important barrier was poor infrastructure with a mean