Exporter-importer business relationships: Past empirical research and future directions

Aykol B., Leonidou L. C.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW, vol.27, no.5, pp.1007-1021, 2018 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 27 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2018
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2018.03.001
  • Journal Name: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.1007-1021
  • Keywords: Exporter-importer relationships, Literature review, Exporting, Importing, BUYER-SELLER RELATIONSHIPS, INTERNATIONAL MARKETING CHANNELS, TRANSACTION COST-ANALYSIS, SOCIAL-EXCHANGE THEORY, RELATIONSHIP QUALITY, PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS, SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS, FOREIGN DISTRIBUTOR, PSYCHIC DISTANCE, INDUSTRIAL EXPORTERS
  • Dokuz Eylül University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

We present a systematic and comprehensive review of the extant empirical literature on exporter-importer business relationships during the period 1975-2017. The review covers 196 articles published in academic journals, which were content-analyzed with their theoretical background, research design, scope of research, sampling/data collection methods, data analysis, and thematic areas covered. Our findings reveal that this line of research is characterized by: (a) a sound theoretical foundation, the most frequent theories being the behavioral paradigm, transaction cost economics, and relational exchange theory; (b) heavy emphasis on formalized, statistical, cross-sectional, and causal research designs; (c) focus on single-country studies, conducted mainly in Europe, Asia, and North America; (d) a tendency to employ probabilistic samples, of a relatively large size; (e) an adoption of relatively sophisticated methods to purify and analyze data collected; and (f) an emphasis on topics relating to behavioral and structural relational dimensions, followed by external and internal influences. Guidelines for researchers focusing on exporter-importer relationships are provided, as well as suggestions for potential new research topics.