State agencies and SME internationalization: a review and research agenda

IF 9.8 1区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

Journal of Business Research Pub Date : 2025-09-23 DOI:10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115728

Yueling Sima , Thomas C. Lawton , Justin Doran , Noirin McCarthy

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Abstract

As research on business–government relations and the state’s role in international business expands, the influence of institutions on firm internationalization is increasingly recognized. Yet the role of state agencies in shaping SMEs’ internationalization trajectories remains unclear, constraining our understanding of their institutional impact. Drawing on 60 articles from leading international business and management journals, we define and conceptually frame state agencies. We classify the reviewed studies into three dimensions—macro, meso, and micro—to delineate the principal roles of state agencies. Within each dimension, we analyze interactions between state agencies and SMEs, as well as the interfaces between state agencies and institutional environments. Building on this analysis, we develop a typology to evaluate how state agencies affect SMEs’ cross-border activities across diverse institutional contexts and to guide future research. Our contribution is to advance an agency-centered perspective on institutions, moving beyond system-level accounts to reveal the organizational mechanisms through which state agencies shape international activity.

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国家机构与中小企业国际化：回顾与研究议程

随着对企业与政府关系和国家在国际商务中的作用的研究不断深入，制度对企业国际化的影响日益得到认可。然而，国家机构在塑造中小企业国际化轨迹方面的作用仍不清楚，这限制了我们对其制度影响的理解。借鉴60篇来自国际领先的商业和管理期刊的文章，我们定义和概念框架的国家机构。我们将回顾的研究分为宏观、中观和微观三个维度，以描绘国家机构的主要角色。在每个维度中，我们分析了国家机构与中小企业之间的相互作用，以及国家机构与制度环境之间的接口。在此分析的基础上，我们开发了一种类型来评估国家机构如何影响中小企业在不同制度背景下的跨境活动，并指导未来的研究。我们的贡献是推进以机构为中心的机构视角，超越系统层面的账户，揭示国家机构塑造国际活动的组织机制。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Business Research BUSINESS-

CiteScore

20.30

自引率

10.60%

发文量

956

期刊介绍： The Journal of Business Research aims to publish research that is rigorous, relevant, and potentially impactful. It examines a wide variety of business decision contexts, processes, and activities, developing insights that are meaningful for theory, practice, and/or society at large. The research is intended to generate meaningful debates in academia and practice, that are thought provoking and have the potential to make a difference to conceptual thinking and/or practice. The Journal is published for a broad range of stakeholders, including scholars, researchers, executives, and policy makers. It aids the application of its research to practical situations and theoretical findings to the reality of the business world as well as to society. The Journal is abstracted and indexed in several databases, including Social Sciences Citation Index, ANBAR, Current Contents, Management Contents, Management Literature in Brief, PsycINFO, Information Service, RePEc, Academic Journal Guide, ABI/Inform, INSPEC, etc.