Resumen de Internalization theory, entrepreneurship, and international new ventures
Alain Verbeke, Oleksiy Osiyevskyy, Amin Zargarzadeh
Purpose This article�s main goal is to establish robust linkages between internalization theory and the empirical phenomenon of international new ventures (INVs). Here, the focus is on firm-specific advantages (FSAs) critical to early new venture internationalization.
Design/methodology/approach On the conceptual level, we explain how the INV literature can easily be accommodated using an internalization theory lens, and we formulate hypotheses to that effect. On the empirical level, we use the Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS) dataset, which includes a panel of 4,928 US-based new businesses founded in 2004, tracked over their early years of operations. We use logistic regressions building upon pooled cross-sections, and including lagged dependent variables.
Findings INV-type foreign expansion is a special case of international growth, easily and credibly predicted by internalization. No new theory beyond internalization theory is needed to explain this phenomenon.
Originality/value The early stages of the Uppsala model, in terms of requisite resources accumulation and recombination, may have been undertaken at the individual level, by founding entrepreneurs, in the pre-stage of the new venture, and are �invisible� when focusing on organizational experience built up in the new venture. Here, particular founding entrepreneurs� characteristics function as FSAs.
