European SMEs and the Born Global Concept

Abstract

This chapter identifies some of the most relevant and important empirical studies focusing on European Born Global firms and presents the key results from the studies with regard to characteristics, marketing strategies and performance. G. Baronchelli and F. Cassia collected data from Italian small and medium-sized enterprises and investigated determining antecedents of Born Global firm performance defined as export share. Empirical evidence is limited, the US Born Globals appear to be three times larger than their Danish counterparts. In order to understand the establishment and development of Born Global firms from European countries, it is highly relevant to address their potential differences to Born Global firms established in other parts of the world. The idea of generations of firms was further developed, and it was found that Born Global firms evaluated the home market as unattractive while export markets were regarded as more favourable.