Explaining export development through psychic distance: enlightening or elusive?
本文通过美国新样本及与多国证据的比较，质疑心理距离概念在解释出口行为中的实际价值，指出当前操作化需要改进。
Abstract The concept of psychic distance has gained widespread theoretical recognition as a predictor of export behaviour. However, the empirical validation of the concept remains patchy and contradictory in terms of the results obtained. Consequently, this paper attempts to shed fresh light on the empirical usefulness of the psychic distance concept. First, a wider assessment base is offered through the development of two new US samples. Subsequently, the US findings are compared with previous empirical evidence from Japan, Germany, Finland and Austria. Taken collectively, the results call into question the practical value of the current operationalisation of psychic distance in explaining export behaviour and provide pointers for required conceptual and measurement improvements.