Internationalization and innovation in nascent companies: does gender matter?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the competitiveness of women entrepreneurs in terms of internationalization and innovation. Supported by a resource-based framework of early internationalizing firms, the authors investigated multiple conditions for the relationship between internationalization and innovation relative to gender in nascent companies. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, the authors used survey data related to entrepreneurial activity in 50 countries from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Based on a model of seven factors (internationalization, innovation, gender, skills, opportunity, sector, and country), the authors tested the significance of the relationships between these factors by means of a hierarchical log-linear analysis. Findings The results indicate the low competitiveness of women entrepreneurs in general, but outline some singularities, especially between developed and developing countries. Originality/value This study offers cross-country empirical evidence of how factors of different levels interact with each other. In this way, the authors shed light on the competitiveness of nascent companies, especially regarding gender differences.