The Effect Of Firm Characteristics And Firm Capability On Export Performance And The Mediation Role Of Export Assistance The Case Of Ethiopian Oil Seed Exporters
The objective of this study was to examine the effect of firm characteristics and firmrncapability on export performance and the mediating role of export assistance of oil seedrnexporters in Ethiopia. The study applied quantitative research method and adoptedrnexplanatory survey design in order to address the research questions. In order to collect datarnclosed ended survey questionnaires were distributed to 98 target respondents selected usingrnstratified sampling technique. In order to analyze the data collected, the study appliedrninferential statistics tools; Pearson correlation analysis and linear regression using SPSS 20rnand SPSS Amos 20. The finding of the study revealed that firm characteristics and firmrncapability had positive and statistically significant effect on export performance. Moreover,rnthe study exhibited through Baron and Kenny (1986) and Smart PLS 3.3.8 that exportrnassistance mediates the relationship between firm characteristics, firm capability and exportrnperformance. Hence, the entire hypotheses formulated were accepted. The generalrnimplication of the study is that firm characteristics and firm capability have significantrnpositive effect on export performance and this effect is partially mediated by exportrnassistance. The study recommended that organizations should give emphasis on their firmrncharacteristics and capability and properly manage export assistances received.rnKeywords: Firm Characteristics, Firm Capability, Export Assistance, Export Performance