Exploring the Bulgarian family SMEs' reluctance to internationalise

Abstract

This study explores the reasons for family SMEs' reluctance to go to foreign markets. It contributes to the fields of family business and international business by providing a conceptual model and hypotheses about organisational and owner-manager's characteristics which mediate the effect of the family business status on SME internationalisation. The proposed hypotheses are tested in a sample of Bulgarian family and non-family SMEs offering empirical evidence about SME internationalisation in a transition context. Our findings reveal that the presence of foreign owners and entrepreneurial orientation are able to mediate the negative effect of family business status on the odds of internationalisation. Contrary to expectations, owner-manager's tenure and education level, access to finance, and learning orientation do not account for differences in internationalisation between family and non-family SMEs. This paper provides a discussion of practical implications and recommendations for future research.