This paper examines the effect of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises’ (SMEs’) pursuit of Go Green attitudes, characterized by the inclusion of environmental objectives in their strategic planning, on their entrepreneurial growth aspirations (EGAs) through the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). We theorize that embracing Go Green attitudes can lead to heightened growth expectations; however, the positive relationship between Go Green attitudes and EGAs is weakened in institutional contexts that have more pronounced green subjective norms. Furthermore, the relationship between Go Green attitudes and EGAs is positively mediated by firm innovation, which serves as a behavioral control for SMEs’ aspirations to grow their businesses. The empirical results we obtained from investigating a large sample of 16,074 SMEs in 39 economies are consistent with our theorization, and robust against various checks.

Scaling strategies are multifaceted approaches entrepreneurial firms pursue to grow rapidly and achieve a competitive scale and market position. They involve interrelated strategic choices regarding when, how, and where to scale. Focusing on young digital businesses, we provide a comprehensive overview of prior research and offer an organizing framework for addressing these strategic choices in scaling within and across markets. In doing so, we identify seven key dilemmas for scale-ups to address and provide illustrative examples of scaling strategies pursued by current international digital scale-ups. We also identify avenues for future research.

While previous research has recognized the impact of pro-market reforms on firm behavior, a critical gap exists in understanding how specific market-oriented institutions, like antitrust legislation, influence the internationalization strategies of SMEs in developing countries. This study addresses this gap by examining how antitrust legislation shapes SMEs' internationalization decisions through the lens of the attention-based view (ABV) and the institution-based view (IBV). The authors reason that antitrust legislation, through the establishment of an equitable playing field, fosters enhanced market opportunities and resource accessibility for SMEs. The authors argue that SMEs, benefiting from these conditions, are more inclined to focus their attention on domestic markets, thereby reducing their inclination towards internationalization. Empirical analysis of 26,412 firms from 96 developing countries confirms this hypothesis, demonstrating a significantly negative impact of antitrust laws on the product market internationalization of SMEs. Importantly, the authors find that this relationship is moderated by both group affiliation and domestic private ownership, such that the negative effect is weaker for group-affiliated and domestic private SMEs. This study contributes with theoretical and policy-oriented insights on the dynamics of antitrust legislation and SME internationalization.

In international business (IB) research, the role of institutional environment in the adaptation of circular economy business model and its impact on international performance has rarely been addressed, considering the differences in institutions that exist between countries. Taking an institutional theoretical framework from an institutional entrepreneurship perspective, this paper aims to investigate how institutional demands may influence internationalizing SMEs to adapt circular business model to achieve international performance, and the roles of strategic flexibility, and age of the firm in the foreign market. We contribute to IB and circular economy literatures by providing an in-depth understanding of how internationalizing firms can adapt international circular business models in host markets.