Journal of World Business – Volume 60, Issue 5, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2025.101662
Unveiling signaling processes in early-stage cross-border investment: Evidence from South African entrepreneurs and European business angels
Sönke Mestwerdt, Matthias Mro?ewski, Alisa Sydow, Nathalie Burkert
The ever-increasing internationalization and global interconnectedness of entrepreneurship are attracting considerable scholarly attention. In particular, the understanding of the internationalization of early-stage financing, such as business angel investment in cross-border contexts, is gaining relevance. Here, however, the informal nature, the newness of the ventures, and the cross-border environment lead to severe information asymmetries, which make the initiation of collaboration particularly complex. To provide an understanding of this phenomenon, in our qualitative study, we look at how signaling as a potential solution to information asymmetry unfolds in the context of early-stage cross-border collaboration between South African founders and European business angels. Based on our findings, we propose a model that uncovers the underlying cognitive mechanisms through which the early-stage cross-border context influences signaling processes. Moreover, we identify three potential outcomes of these interpretive processes: signal appreciation, signal depreciation, and signal flip, and suggest two potential strategies to mitigate the effects of cognitively biased signal interpretation. We contribute to the broader signaling literature and signaling in international entrepreneurship literature.
Journal of World Business – Volume 60, Issue 5, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2025.101650
Female entrepreneurs and international entry mode choice: Evidence from entrepreneurial firms in China
Jongsoo Kim, Yeongsu Anthony Kim, Li-Qun Wei, Gaoguang Zhou
Female entrepreneurs in emerging economies encounter various obstacles in pursuing global expansion; thus, research on how to overcome these difficulties and achieve successful internationalization is needed. This study examines the impacts of two factors, namely political affiliation and family involvement in entrepreneurial firms, on female entrepreneurs’ choice of foreign market entry mode. By analyzing comprehensive survey data from the venture firms in China, we uncover the relationships between these factors and the inclination to select higher commitment entry modes. Our findings reveal that female entrepreneurs with a higher level of political affiliation are likely to opt for a higher commitment foreign market entry mode. Likewise, those with greater family involvement demonstrate a preference for higher commitment entry modes. Furthermore, our study reveals the complex interplay between the resources and financial constraints. Political affiliations complement financial resources, increasing the likelihood of higher commitment entries. In contrast, family involvement acts as a substitute when financial resources are limited. This study sheds light on the diverse resources that female entrepreneurs rely on and how these resources, either independently or interactively, influence these entrepreneurs’ international entry mode choices. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the unique challenges and internationalization of female entrepreneurship in emerging economies.
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal – Volume 19, Issue 1, pg 3-28., DOI: https://sms.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sej.1520
Why are some nations more entrepreneurial than others? Investigating the link between cultural tightness–looseness and rates of new firm formation
Valentina A. Assenova, Raphael Amit
We evaluate the role of cultural tightness–looseness as an explanation for cross-cultural variation in new firm formation rates. Modeling cultural tightness–looseness as an antecedent for individual entrepreneurial dispositions and informal institutions, we examine its impact on the number of new limited-liability companies registered per 1000 people and the rate of new entrepreneurs in the working-age population. Our findings show that cultural tightness–looseness explains 56% of the variation in new firm formation rates in a sample of 156 nations, and 71% of the variation in the rate of new entrepreneurs in the 50 US states, with greater cultural looseness corresponding to higher rates of entrepreneurship, on average. This effect is robust to various model specifications, measures, and controls for other cultural dimensions.