Barriers to Export and Export Performance for Canadian Firms

This paper examines barriers to export and export support by external organization for 137 firms in Canada. The authors discuss four constructs of export barriers and export support functions as they impact export performance. A structural equation model using the barriers and the export support functions as exogenous variables and export performance as endogenous variable show that the most important barrier to export as perceived by business executives is lack of firm competence followed by fear of not receiving payment from foreign customers, procedural barriers, and lack of government support. Analyses also show that firm size impacts the perception of barriers to export and export performance.