Abstract
This article uses data from the UK Longitudinal Small Business Survey (2015) to empirically test the relationship between local (formal and informal) interpersonal networks and exporting. Our results suggest that local interpersonal networks increase the likelihood of exporting. More importantly, we find that the role of formal interpersonal networks (e.g. accountants) on internationalisation increases as firm size increases, while the link between informal interpersonal networks (e.g. family) and exporting becomes weaker. We argue that larger firms have more complex operations and diverse structures than smaller firms that require the engagement of formal interpersonal networks to help with the internationalisation process.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 610-624 |
Journal | International Business Review |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 16 Nov 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2018 |
Bibliographical note
© 2017, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Keywords
- Interpersonal networks
- Formal networks
- informal networks
- SMEs
- internationalisation
- exporting