Title: Location and pull of proximate markets: internationalisation decisions of firms in a small economy

Authors: Syed H. Akhter; Barney G. Pacheco

Addresses: Marketing Department, College of Business, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53233, USA ' Department of Management Studies, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract: Existing studies have mostly focused on internationalisation decisions of small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) from either developed economies or large developing economies. This paper fills a gap in the literature by focusing on SMEs in a small economy. A qualitative approach, utilising in-depth interviews, was adopted to discover the effects of resource endowments and psychic distance on where, why, and how firms expand business internationally. Executives from five key business-to-consumer sectors were interviewed. Findings show how the firms perceived and responded to global competitive developments and how resource endowments and psychic distance affected international market research, market selection, and market development decisions.

Keywords: small firms; small and mid-sized enterprises; SMEs; psychic distance; internationalisation; resource-based view; RBV; firm location.

DOI: 10.1504/JIBED.2017.084309

Journal for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development, 2017 Vol.10 No.2, pp.156 - 172

Received: 16 Apr 2016
Accepted: 20 Apr 2016
Published online: 26 May 2017 *

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