How firms export: direct and indirect exporting, intermediaries, and hybrid firms

2026-06-17

AI Summary

This study addresses the origins of heterogeneity in firms’ export modes—such as direct exporting, indirect exporting, pure intermediation, and hybrid arrangements—by proposing a novel dual-capability theoretical framework that jointly models manufacturing and commercial capabilities. The framework elucidates the matching mechanisms between intermediaries and producers and uncovers the structural roots of export product diversity. Empirical analysis using firm-level export data from Spain reveals that intermediaries with stronger commercial capabilities are more likely to match with producers possessing greater manufacturing capabilities, and that such matches are associated with significantly broader export product varieties. This work provides a new microfoundation for understanding the differentiation and collaboration of firms in global trade.

Abstract

Some firms export their own products directly, others rely on intermediary firms to export on their behalf, and still others both export their own products and intermediate exports for other producers. To explain this heterogeneity, we develop a model in which firms differ along two dimensions: manufacturing capability and commercial capability. Manufacturing capability lowers the marginal cost of producing a variety, whereas commercial capability lowers the variable cost of reaching foreign customers. Different combinations of these capabilities generate the different types of firms observed in export markets: direct exporters, indirect exporters, pure intermediaries, and hybrid firms. The model predicts that commercially capable intermediaries are matched with more manufacturing-capable producers, and that more commercially capable intermediaries export a broader set of varieties. We provide suggestive evidence for these predictions using Spanish firm-level export data.

Problem

• export heterogeneity
• direct exporting
• indirect exporting
• intermediaries
• hybrid firms

Innovation

• heterogeneous firms
• manufacturing capability
• commercial capability
• export intermediaries
• hybrid exporters