In an article addressing the marketing-related barriers common to emerging countries in general, Lall (1991) identified the
following: lack of economies-of-scale operations on numerous fronts (production, advertising, marketing), information
gaps, distance from final markets, inadequacy of local institutional support, skill gaps and untapped learning potential of the
populations, lack of differentiation and brand name recognition, lack of consultants and supporting services, inappropriate
quality and/or product design, inability to meet packaging, labeling, and instructional requirements, difficulty providing
post-sales service, expensive technological inputs from abroad, complex or changing technologies, lack of R&D capacity,
and inability to meet tight delivery schedules for exports. Other general barriers that EMs tend to face are: meeting
standards with respect to sanitary and phyto-sanitary export requirements, packaging, labeling, eco-labeling, and
certifications (Cattaui, 1999). In addition, unpredictable customs procedures, lack of government transparency, and overall
lack of basic services in telecommunications, maritime and air transport create other barriers (Cattaui, 1999).
In summary, the EM barriers that appear to be most prevalent across nations include unpredictable currency fluctuations, a
lack of government commitment to providing consistent export policies and effect support, inability to attain consistent or
internationally accepted quality, lack of modern production capacity and economies-to-scale, inability to offer competitive
prices, and the lack of competent personnel. The lack of basic services, mentioned in various contexts in previous
paragraphs, provide examples of the institutional voids which are deemed typical of EMs and for which firms should strive
to compensate for by developing internal competencies (Khanna et al., 2005; Khanna and Palepu, 2006).
The diversity of approaches and differing methods suggests that a universal means of segmenting firms to examine their
specific barrier-related needs has not yet emerged. This is why we attempt to fill in this gap in the relevant research by
developing a classification, based on the aforementioned literature review, of the main internal barriers to export, to
examine them in the situation of Mexico, particularly for non-commodity producers, to derive more general lessons for
export barriers in EMs. Highlights of Mexico’s economic past provide a context for the interpretation of the findings of this
empirical study.
Mexico economic background
Export trade has become the central pillar of the contemporary Mexican economic agenda, as it has for other emerging
nations since the trend toward globalization in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In terms of export volume, as of 2007,
Mexico stands as the U.S.’ third largest supplier after Canada and China
(US Census Bureau, 2008). Compared to other
nations, Mexico ranked 10
th
in export volume among OECD members and its exports exceed those of Australia, South
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Convention