Evaluations of export feasibility by immigrant and non-immigrant entrepreneurs in new technology-based firms

Entrepreneurs evaluate the feasibility of future export opportunities according to individual-level factors and perceived environmental conditions. However, because individual entrepreneurs are heterogeneous in their characteristics, previous experiences, and perceptions of environment, entrepreneurs will differ in their evaluations of internationalization feasibility. In this paper, we investigate whether and how one relevant source of entrepreneur heterogeneity, i.e., migrant condition, impacts the perceived feasibility of exporting opportunities. Drawing on rich primary data collected from a matched-pair sample of 71 immigrant and 69 native entrepreneurs active in non-internationalized new technology-based firms in Italy, we find that the migrant condition positively moderates the relationship between perceived financial public support and perceived feasibility of exporting, whereas it negatively moderates the relationship between international business skills and perceived export feasibility. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and policy in the area of international entrepreneurship. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.