The speed of internationalization in regionally clustered family firms: a deeper understanding of innovation activities and cluster affiliation

Abstract

This article aims to explore how innovation activities and cluster affiliation moderate the relationship between family involvement and post-internationalization speed in family firms. Based on a sample of 639 Portuguese family businesses (FBs) created and internationalized between 2010 and 2018, we show that, all things being equal, higher levels of family involvement in ownership and management lead to a lower post-internationalization speed. When considering the effect of cluster affiliation, we found that clustered FBs have a lower propensity to slow down the post-internationalization process than their non-clustered counterparts.