Born globals from emerging economies: Reconciling early exporting with theories of internationalization
Our research finds that exporting by young firms are enabled to a greater extent (than established firms) when they use Internet technologies and tap into mobile talent (such as cross-national entrepreneurs and leaders with international experience), which helps to overcome key constraints in tapping into international markets. We also found that young firms overcome home-country institutional and infrastructure deficiencies in emerging economies, specifically, by receiving efficient government services and strategically locating in well-resourced centers such as capital cities, which helps them more in exporting as compared to established firms. Our findings help to explain the modern phenomenon of “born global” firms, who have broken away from the traditional path of focusing first on domestic markets and then engaging in incremental international expansion.
