Small and medium-sized enterprises’ exporting : home and host country motivators effect on first and successive export venture decisions

The aim of the paper is to investigate the internationalization (particularly exporting) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) taking a sample of United Kingdom (UK) SMEs for the use in economic policy, academia and management. It focuses on the critical first and less risky step towards internationalization and separates the motivators into home country and host country. The paper investigates 44 specific, high impact, pre-selected exporting motivators from the literature and tests their effect on the firm’s initial export decision and latest (or sequential) export decision. Results show that the first exporting choice affects later exporting choices and both are mostly affected by home country-specific, internal, motivators as opposed to host country-specific reactive motivators. In addition regionalization shows an association as European Union membership of the UK showed a relationship to subsequent entry mode choice. The paper’s results are of use to policy-makers and management.