Publication Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
4-2005
Abstract
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in international markets. This study argues that the ownership structures of SMEs influence their proclivity to take risks and expand the scale and scope of their internationalization efforts. Data from 889 Swedish SMEs reveal that internal owners (CEOs and other senior executives) tend to be risk averse and have a lower proclivity to increase scale and scope of internationalization than external owners (venture capitalists and institutional investors). The results provide interesting insights into the behavioral change of executives regarding the scale and scope of internationalization in the presence of external ownership.
Keywords
ownership, international entrepreneurship, family business, agency theory
Discipline
Business | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations | International Business
Research Areas
Strategy and Organisation
Publication
Journal of Management
Volume
31
Issue
2
First Page
210
Last Page
233
ISSN
0149-2063
Identifier
10.1177/0149206304271760
Publisher
SAGE
Citation
GEORGE, Gerard; WIKLUND, Johan; and ZAHRA, Shaker A..
Ownership and the Internationalization of Small Firms. (2005). Journal of Management. 31, (2), 210-233. Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/4672
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206304271760