The effects of interfirm cooperation purpose on export performance: Choosing between local and overseas partners

Abstract

While recent research finds that cooperating with local partners increases export performance, other studies show that home ties negatively affect exports. This article contributes to the discussion on the inconclusive effects of local and overseas innovation cooperation arrangements on export performance by examining the specific purpose of the innovation collaboration agreement. In analyzing StatsNZ Business Operations Survey data, we unexpectedly find that most local cooperation agreements negatively affect export performance. In contrast, research and development agreements with local partners positively influence export performance. Our results show that although collaborating with an overseas partner on marketing and prototyping positively affects export performance, counterintuitively, interfirm cooperation with an international partner with the purpose of research and development exhibits no effect on the probability of becoming an exporter. Implications for managers and policymakers are discussed.