Trust and opportunism in the competitiveness of small‐scale timber businesses based on innovation and marketing capabilities

Abstract

Subsistence markets are characterized by being composed of economic agents with low levels of education, marketing and management skills, and income. There are common in developing countries. Promote entrepreneurship in these markets is a strategy to reduce poverty, contributing to sustainable development goals. Small-scale timber businesses (SSTB) in Misiones (Argentine) work in these markets. Innovation and marketing capabilities in SSTB are important factors in the growth of such businesses. Internal trust is a potential factor that could increase the effect of these capabilities, possibly limited by opportunism. This paper analyses marketing and innovation capabilities in SSTB, examining the possible moderating effect of trust (or opportunism) in the process of generating performance from these capabilities, using partial least squares with data of timber businesses in Misiones (Argentine). The findings indicate that SSTB present innovation and marketing capabilities that generate competitiveness, but the interactive influence of trust on the impact of these capabilities on performance is either neglected or negative, suggesting certain opportunism.