Export Intermediation: An Empirical Test of Peng and Ilinitch

Abstract

This paper provides empirical evidence from France on the role of export intermediary firms. Using data from 20,000 French firms, this paper tests two of the five transaction cost-based propositions on the role of export intermediaries by Peng and Ilinitch (1998). While the empirical evidence only partially supports their first proposition on distance and familiarity, their second proposition on product complexity is corroborated.