Subnational institutional configurations and international expansion of SMEs in emerging economies

Abstract

In contrast to institutional studies based on comparisons between countries and based on a deterministic perspective that analyses the influence of institutions on the performance of the individual in emerging economies, the present research looks to the most recent versions of neo institutionalism and to the literature on entrepreneurship and international business in order to study (1) the existence of subnational institutional differences in emerging economies and (2) whether such differences relate to the international expansion of SMEs located in such territories. This study takes evidence from a sample of 296 entrepreneurs who founded their SMEs in the Federal State of Sergipe (Brazil) and analyses from a comparative perspective of six tourist municipalities located in that state. The results allow us to identify the existence of differences in the regulative, normative, and cognitive institutional dimensions between subnational territories and how such differences relate to the international expansion of SMEs located in each subnational territory.