Empreendedorismo internacional e o papel das instituições: uma análise no contexto brasileiro

Abstract

In recent years, the internationalization of young companies, with limited resources and lean structure, has increased its volume and intensity worldwide. Nonetheless, studies in the field of International Entrepreneurship (IE) have observed that such phenomenon occurred more frequently in some countries or regions than in others. Due to the unknowns about the points that remain unanswered by the findings in the IE in which aimed at better understanding who these entrepreneurs were and how the structure of such companies influenced the internationalization, researchers began to question whether and how external factors of the local context could influence this process. This is the framework the present study draws on, in which we sought to understand how national and subnational institutions influence IE in the Brazilian context. Accordingly, a multiple case study was carried out, exploring the trajectory of two startups based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, whose solutions are aimed at different sectors of the economy. Drawing on the institutional categories proposed by North and Scott, and described by other studies in the field, it was identified that, although the institutional influence in the context of Brazil is less relevant than the reported in other studies, its impact – positive at some moments and negative at some others– concerning the stimulation of IE should not be disregarded. The main conclusions point out that, even though some institutions effectively contribute positively to the internationalization process of Brazilian entrepreneurial companies, the fragility of institutions related to taxation, shared knowledge, and entrepreneurs’ mistaken beliefs regarding the expansion of frontiers turn out to be the main limitations of this process in the country. Additionally, the absence of relevant subnational institutions was also revealed, as well as failures in the dissemination, access, and exploitation of initiatives that could contribute to IE in Brazil.