Engagement in international entrepreneurship: interactive effects of resource-based factors and institutional environments

Purpose
Integrating the resource-based view and institutional approach, this study aims to examine how resource-based factors, and formal and informal institutional context interact in influencing the international engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor surveys, this paper performs a multilevel estimation approach in which cross-level (random-effects) moderation analysis is applied.
Findings
This paper offers new insights into the internationalisation by ascertaining the primary role of resource-based factors in influencing internationalisation. In addition, it reveals the differential contingent values of formal and informal institutions in regard to the relationship between resource-based characteristics and internationlisation.
Practical implications
The research findings reveal the importance of the country-specific institutional system to drive early-stage entrepreneurs‘ intention to go international. In addition, the significant impacts of formal and informal institutions call upon policy-makers to improve institutional environments (e.g. government policies, governmental programmes, entrepreneurial finance, market openness, commercial and professional infrastructure, intellectual property rights, etc).
Research originality
This research indicates that the degree of internationalization increases when entrepreneurs possess necessary resources and under suitable formal and informal institutional environments.
Key words: Internationalisation; Resource-based view; Institutional theory; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.