International entrepreneurship research during the last decade: a review

Abstract

A major contribution of the international entrepreneurship (IE) research field is that it has enhanced our understanding of the marketing challenges early internationalising firms face when they compete in constantly changing foreign markets. During the past decade, IE-research has, moreover, gone from focusing on the early internationalisation of firms to investigate the entrepreneurial processes of new business creation in foreign markets. However, ambiguity still exists regarding the level of analysis that ought to guide this new line of research. This article contributes by increasing our knowledge about the recent development in the international entrepreneurship research field by reviewing empirical studies performed between 2003 and 2011. The review focuses on the ontological perspectives used as well as the methods and theories that are adopted in the studies. Based on this review, the article contributes with a discussion about the evolution of the international entrepreneurship research field.