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This study aims to systematically review papers on women’s entrepreneurship in the internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by examining the research profile (i.e. publication trends, publishers, domain and quality of journals, methodologies and units of analysis and regional classifications), internationalization entry modes and the theories underpinning, key variables using AMO framework (i.e. antecedents, mediators, moderators and outcomes) and suggestions for potential future studies.

This study used bibliometric analysis by selecting 62 relevant papers from 3,016 papers collected from the Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar and EBSCO databases. Content analysis was conducted to identify key research issues and gaps, which were then mapped on an AMO framework to address potential future research.

This study found that the number of papers published during the period 1994–September 2022 fluctuated, indicating an increasing trend of women’s entrepreneurship research in the internationalization of SMEs being published in various reputable journals by well-known publishers. This study also found several alternatives of internationalization entry modes, although export is still the most widely used alternative. Various theories that underlie this research include internationalization theory, resource-based theory, feminist theory and international entrepreneurship. This study proposes a future research framework on women’s entrepreneurship in the internationalization of SMEs: AMO.

This study contributes to the intersection of gender-focused international business and entrepreneurship domains. This study proposes a conceptual model of women’s entrepreneurship in internationalization of SMEs by mapping the antecedents, mediators/moderators and outcomes and offers promising opportunities for future research directions.

Recently, increased interest has been devoted to discuss theory development in relation to business-to-business (B2B) marketing. The purpose of this paper is to explore these thoughts through describing and analyzing research on the internationalization of firms from an Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) perspective. The authors ask: to what extent have these studies resulted in a theory of internationalization?

The paper is conceptual and frames research on the internationalization of firms by means of definitions, domains, relations of variables and predictions. It looks into research on internationalization based on an IMP-inspired network perspective to see to what extent research has resulted in theories of internationalization.

While there have been substantial efforts on theorizing related to IMP-based internationalization studies, the research has not yet resulted in theory.

In this paper one phenomenon was selected that has already been addressed in IMP research, namely, the internationalization of firms. Had the authors chosen another phenomenon previously studied in IMP the findings might had turned out differently.

The paper makes a contribution to understanding how ideas are developed, used and referenced in long-term research development for the specific phenomenon of internationalization. The paper contributes to the debate on theories within B2B research.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to provide a review of literature that analyses the internationalisation of the firm, through the function and role of networks.

Design/methodology/approach – A total of 23 papers (published between 1988 and 2008) explicitly using network as a research framework to study the internationalisation process of the firm were selected. They have been analysed according to a range of factors, including the author, journal, time frame in which they were published, type of focal firm, country of origin of focal firms, market entered, methods applied in the studies, theories adopted and research topic.

Findings – Networks have emerged as one of the dominant frameworks used to explain the phenomenon of internationalisation. Having originally been applied in studies of firms from developed countries entering similar markets, network theories are now as popular in studies of firms both originating in and entering emerging markets. This review also finds that both qualitative and quantitative methods have been adopted in the studies; however, few papers have tried to combine the two. Furthermore, the network approach has been used for comparative analysis with findings from FDI theory, as well as to supplement international new venture (INV) and born global theories. Lastly, this review highlights topics that have been explored in previous studies and suggests areas for further research.

Originality/value – This is the first review paper on this subject and as such it contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the network approach and assists in understanding the internationalisation phenomenon of the firm.

This theory testing paper compares and analyzes the internationalization process of two Mexican family-owned firms: Xignux and Grupo Alfa. This paper is intended to offer a theoretical understanding using existing frameworks such as OLI (ownership, location and internationalization), LLL (linkage, leverage and learning) and the Uppsala model. Furthermore, it tests whether the theoretical framework of organizational capabilities and international ventures fits the internationalization of these companies.

This paper is based on case study methodology using the companies’ publically available data. Both within-case and cross-case analysis were carried out to identify specific traits in the internationalization pattern of both firms; cases were also compared with literature to identify conflicts and similarities that enable a better understanding of the phenomenon.

It was found that not a single theory fully and satisfactorily explains the internationalization of both Xignux and Alfa, instead, issues like internationalization into low psychic distance countries, establishment of strategic alliances and the exploitation of locational-specific advantages contributed in the international expansion of the studied companies.

There is an increasing amount of available literature regarding internationalization strategies and internationalization theories applied to developing and emerging country firms. However, most of the studies analyze companies from Asia, and there are limited studies on multilatinas (i.e. Latin American multinationals). Furthermore, scholars in the field of international business are still debating whether the existing theories, or an adaptation of them, explain the internationalization of multilatinas.

It has been suggested that there is a lack of consensus regarding the conceptual domain of cross‐national studies. That said, the theoretical focus of such scholarly activities has tended to reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the field. By far the most significant contributions to knowledge in the area can be sourced to the international economics, international finance and international business literatures. The proliferation in focuses and the diversity of empirical studies to be found within these literatures, demonstrates the wealth of understanding that can be attributed to the research of cross‐national commercial activities and operations. Attempts to explicate many of the dominant theories within these literatures. Contributions to the macro level of analysis can be found in the form of theories of international trade. Alternatively, micro theories engage the organization as the level of analysis and consideration is given to both the foreign direct investment decision process and pattern pursued by firms in internationalization. Discusses the nature and emphasis of these theories in the form of a critique.

In this paper, the authors undertake a systematic analysis of multinationality–performance (M-P) literature published in the last decade, when antecedents for internationalization and moderators of the M-P relationship had attained a center stage in international business and international management research. Though M-P relationship is one of the most widely studied topics within international business literature, so far synthesis of the entire theoretical landscape is missing in extant literature.

Through keywords search process, the authors found 111 studies in management literature that look at internationalization, its antecedents, performance of internationalized firms, and moderators of the M-P relationship. The focus of this study is to identify theoretical foundations used to explain the antecedents and moderators in M-P relationship, in order to suggest the future research direction for the field. The authors classify the antecedents and moderators based on their theoretical underpinnings not only to identify commonly used theoretical foundations in the last 10 years of international strategy research but also to highlight potential areas for future research.

The authors’ analysis indicates that research on international strategy in the last decade was dominated by theory testing in the context of developed economies. The authors’ review suggests that majority of the antecedents and moderators in the M-P relationship are anchored within institutional theory, organizational structure, resource-based view, social capital, and upper echelon theory.

The authors’ findings are indicative of a rich research potential of M-P relationship in the contextual research setting of emerging markets while leveraging more diversified theoretical bases and multiple levels of research design.

The purpose of this paper is to postulate the impact of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on internationalization strategies of member countries’ firms. The study also aims to triangulate the proposed model using empirical data from PTA partner economies.

The mixed methods research design is used for the purpose of inquiry as suggested by Creswell. The inductive reasoning based on critical literature review and grounded theory methodology is used to postulate the model. Explanatory strength of the model is triangulated using empirical longitudinal trade data of Pakistan with her bilateral PTA partners, i.e. Malaysia, Mauritius, Iran, Sri Lanka and China. Internationalization indices are adapted following the Ietto-Gillies and London (2009) and Petri (1994) to measure the intensity and geographical diversification dimensions of internationalization. Country-level trade statistics are used as a proxy of firm-level data to explain the international expansion of home firms resulting from PTAs.

Empirical results confirm a strong and long-term impact of PTAs on the intensity and extensity dimensions of internationalization over post-agreement period in Pakistan and member economies. Gravity index depicts greater concentration of Pakistan's trade in FTA markets and thereby confirms the influence of PTAs on international market selection. Analysis at sectoral level depicts a contraction in services trade whereas expansion in the manufacturing firms’ export growth to member economies.

The paper extends the theory of internationalization by identifying PTAs as exogenous variable influencing internationalization strategies of member countries’ firms in a developing South Asian context. Coupled with findings from empirical data, the study identifies PTAs as a new strategic trade policy tool available to policy makers for promoting and influencing the home firms’ internationalization strategies.

Building on new venture internationalization, agency, and signaling theories, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the level of firm internationalization and initial public offering (IPO) performance. Further, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the moderating role of firm ownership structure on this relationship.

The data set for this study is composed of 298 firms that made IPOs in years 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002 in the US stock exchanges. The study utilizes hierarchical ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses to test its hypotheses. The model developed in this study identified IPO firm ownership structure as the moderator variable, IPO firm internationalization as the predictor variable, and underpricing as the criterion variable. This paper utilized robust regression modeling analyses available in Stata to analyze the data and test their hypotheses.

Results based on data collected from 298 IPO firms suggest that firm internationalization has a positive impact on IPO underpricing. Results also report that the relationship between firm internationalization and IPO underpricing is moderated by CEO and blockholder ownership, with the relationship being stronger in IPO firms with higher levels of CEO and blockholder ownership.

The current paper examines the impact of an IPO firm's internationalization prior to its going public on the subsequent performance of the IPO. In doing so, this paper seeks to help in resolving some of the apparent theoretical and empirical contradictions identified in literature. In addition, the introduction of IPO ownership structure as a moderator variable in the relationship between IPO firm internationalization and performance extends the applicability of agency theory to IPO firms and ensures a multi‐theoretic, finer‐grained conceptualization of this relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the similarities and differences in the internationalization of SMEs and MNEs and the specific factors affecting them.

The relevant literature was reviewed particularly in the context of the major theories of internationalization.

The positive and negative aspects of each theoretical approach to internationalization are present to form the basis of a new model of international entrepreneurship.

The newly developed conceptual model has not been empirically tested.

A redeveloped theoretical integrative conceptual model of international entrepreneurship is proposed based on four internationalization properties (mode, market, product, and time), internationalization performance, and key antecedents and consequences of the internationalization process.

Surveys the literature on internationalisation research and identifies a number of theoretical and practical inadequacies in terms of current theory’s ability in describing behaviour of the smaller firm. A range of internationalisation theories are discussed, from their historical provenance in economic trade theory to the more recent developments concerning the impact of technology and networking. It is concluded that the majority of frameworks fail to readily explain smaller firm internationalisation behaviour. A number of implications and recommendations are presented, including the promotion of the belief that the emerging marketing and entrepreneurship paradigm provides additional understanding of smaller firm internationalisation, where creativity and innovative behaviour can act as a competitive advantage over firms with larger resources at their disposal. This then acts as a catalyst for internationalisation development.