International Trade in the High-Tech Sector—Support or Obstacle to Start-Up Processes at the Macro Level in European Union Countries?

Abstract

High-tech internationalization touches on two aspects impacting entrepreneurship: openness of the economy and its level of innovativeness. Both of them might positively or negatively affect the process of new company creations, as suggested by the concept of entrepreneurial regime with creative destruction or by the concept of routinized regime with creative accumulation. The aim of the article is to assess the impact of high-tech internationalization on the start-up process of new company creation. Cluster analysis and panel modeling for European Union countries in 2009–2018 were conducted. The research results distinguish clusters of European Union countries with a different level of high-tech internationalization. The impact of high-tech internationalization on start-up rates is significant in the case of both clusters; however, it is stronger in the cluster of countries with a relatively higher level of high-tech international openness. The high-tech intra-EU import and extra-EU high-tech export negatively affect the rate of new enterprise creation in both clusters. Additionally, extra-EU import in clusters with a relatively higher level of high-tech internationalization also negatively impacts start-up rates. The only aspect supporting the start-up process is the level of intra-EU export in clusters with higher levels of high-tech internationalization. The results suggest that in European Union countries, creative accumulation is the dominant phenomenon.

Internationalization ecosystems: a framework proposal for the international business theory

“…However, it can be perceived from several different perspectives, such as EE (e.g. Ferreira et al, 2023;Schafer & Henn, 2018;Theodoraki & Catanzaro, 2021); IE (e.g., Gawel, 2021;Odei & Stejskal, 2020;Prokopenko et al, 2014;Tippmann et al, 2023); digital ecosystem (e.g., Nambisan, Zahra, & Luo, 2019;Yonatany, 2017); and several other standpoints focused on the dynamics and functions of a complex, multifaceted and interdependent multi-system that spans across different industries, geographies and cultures (Moore, 1993;Tippmann et al, 2023).…”

“…To understand economic, cultural and social developments in entrepreneurship, the concept of EE was rapidly adopted in the specialized literature (Audretsch & Belitski, 2017;Ratten, 2021). The concept encompasses the dynamic entrepreneurial interactions amongst different layers of factual or potential actors, organizations, institutions and formal as well as informal business processes co-existing and evolving simultaneously in a given region (Gawel, 2021;Ratten, 2021;Schafer & Henn, 2018;Stolze & Sailer, 2021), that focus on the creation, growth and scale of new businesses, diversifying economic bases and promoting economic, technological and social devel-opment (Zahra & Hashai, 2022) on micro, meso and macro level (Ferreira et al, 2023).…”

“…The concept of Ie is closely linked with entrepreneurship, as entrepreneurs are a fundamental element of innovative economic systems (Prokopenko et al, 2014;Ratten, 2021). Innovation ecosystems can be perceived as a collaborative arrangement for the open creation, dissemination and utilization of knowledge and technology amongst closely linked actors, including organizations, businesses, research centers, policymakers and, to a considerable extent, other civil society representatives (Costa, 2022;Gawel, 2021;Sekliuckiene et al, 2016;Tippmann et al, 2023).…”

“…The conceptual framework delineated in this study, drawing on the works Araújo (2023a, 2023b), adopts an Internationalization Ecosystem (INT-E) lens. This framework amalgamates four interlinked ecosystem perspectives, providing a comprehensive view of the internationalization process: • BEs, which constitute an economic community supported by collaborative entities, including conventional business models, industries, multinational enterprises (MNEs), and clusters (e.g., Cha et al, 2023;Hewett et al, 2022;Zalan, 2018); • EEs, specialized environments dedicated to fostering innovative and high-growth ventures, encompassing startups, scale-ups, and other non-traditional business models (e.g., Gawel, 2021;Ratten, 2021;Stolze & Sailer, 2021); • IEs, comprising both business and social ecosystems extending beyond economic boundaries, emphasizing knowledge creation and exchange (e.g., Prokopenko, Emerenko, & Omelyanenko, 2014;Ratten, 2021); • PEs, indicative of the digital business landscape characterized by advanced technology, knowledge dissemination, and collaborative initiatives (e.g., Ciasullo, Montera, Mercuri, & Mugova, 2022;Kolagar, Reim, Parida, & Sjödin, 2022).…”

Exploratory and Exploitative Internationalization: Effects of Social Capital Antecedents and Fit Moderators of Innovation Consequence

“…Internationalization has emerged as a critical strategy for firm's innovation and sustainability in emerging countries [1,2]. Inspired by research on organizational ambidexterity, which has been indicated in such various literatures as organizational learning and strategy [3,4], innovation [5,6], and knowledge search [7], studies in international business tend to believe that international firms need to become ambidextrous and conduct exploratory and exploitative strategies simultaneously in foreign markets [8][9][10].…”