Internationalisation of Spanish family SMEs: an analysis of family involvement

Abstract

The aim of this work is to analyse the influence of family involvement on a company in the context of the firm's internationalisation. The work incorporates some of the most current perspectives from the international business field. From these reflections, we propose a causal explanatory model whose ultimate dependent variable is the firm's level of internationalisation, considering independent variables both at the individual and company level (including family influence). The model is tested on a sample of 222 Andalusian firms (Spain), using a structural equation modelling technique (Partial Least Squares – PLS). The results show how the family involvement plays a mediating role when considering the internationalisation of family firms. Some of the conclusions may give useful insights for public agencies responsible for fostering SME internationalisation as well as for the academic world.