Research on factors affecting the internationalization of SMEs is attracting growing interest. However, only a limited number of empirical analyses have explored the question of if and to what extent the family character of the firm has an effect on internationalization decisions. Relying on...

This paper focuses on factors affecting the internationalization of SMEs. Based on both international businessand and family business literatures, we develop three hypotheses that relate the internationalization of SMEs’ to familymanagement,human capital, and presence of foreign shareholders....

The recent financial crisis has led to a great level of environmental uncertainty and dramatically affected managers' expectations and firms' corporate strategies, including their acquisition moves. Building on a sample of 385 acquisitions in Italy in the period 2007-2010, the paper addresses...

Summary This paper analyses the relationship between innovation at firm and industry level, and the global vs regional strategy of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Based on data from a sample of large Italian manufacturing firms, the analysis shows that technological assets affect a firm's...

This paper builds on Birkinshaw's model of multinational enterprise (MNE) as an internal market system [Birkinshaw, J. (2000). Entrepreneurship in the global firm. London: Sage]. This model addresses the issues related to the emergence of market-based mechanisms of coordination within the MNEs...

Many empirical studies have shown how technological change, organisational change and globalisation can be alternatively (or jointly) seen as causes of skill bias. In this paper, after discussing some evidence on the G7 countries which shows a clear upskilling trend in manufacturing industries...

In this study three possible determinants of the increase in the ratio between skilled and unskilled workers are tested together: R&D, organisational change, and foreign direct investment. After analysing the literature, these hypotheses are jointly tested using a SUR estimate. The results -...

Consistently with previous evidence of the microeconomic literature on the subject and applying GMM-SYS on a unique Italian panel dataset, this study finds a significant - although small in size - positive relationship between innovation and employment at the firm's level in the 1990s.