Resumen de International entre preneurship: a theoretical examination and empirical evidence of the rapid internationalization in Latin American emerging economies
The main aim of this thesis is to contribute to a better understanding of the International Entrepreneurship field. Therefore, this work intends to improve the understanding of IE in several ways. Firstly, two theoretical studies are provided, which intend to be a contribution to the theoretical progress of the field. The first of these studies develops an classification of IE literature through bibliometric techniques. This type of studies allows the construction of a general image of a research field, while providing meaningful information to those who aspire to carry out IE research. The second study carries out a comprehensive review of the IE literature, which analyzes 272 articles related to IE. From the results are generated several discussions and recommendations to help overcome some of the difficulties presented in the field. In addition, a number of theoretical frameworks are compiled that should reduce the gaps between fields that originate the IE field. The second part of this thesis intended to improve the understanding of entrepreneurial internationalization in emerging economies. To do this, two empirical studies are carried out based on emerging Latin American countries, using two different research methodologies. In the first one, it is presents a comparative analysis of entrepreneurial internationalization, between two economically distinct contexts, namely Spain and Chile. From a logistic regression model, the role of human and relational capital of the entrepreneurs of both countries on the rapid internationalization of their ventures is explored. The results are different between countries, and are explained from the economic and socio-cultural differences of both countries. The second empirical study presents a retrospective case study of four Mexican new technology-based firms that were able to rapidly internationalize. These companies participated actively in different interactions/collaborations with other institutional agents, which allowed them to acquire knowledge and developed networks that were fundamental in their entrepreneurial internationalization. Through the Triple Helix Model, the main interactions observed in this study are explained. The experiences of these companies are a clear example of how interactions/collaborations between institutional actors in a given context are able to stimulate entrepreneurial activities, including international ones. Finally, through these theoretical and empirical works, this doctoral dissertation seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the IE field.
