IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/ecobus/v34y2020i1p261-272n17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contribution of Internationalisation to SME Growth: Evidence from the Kenyan Manufacturing Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Safari Kulondwa

    (Université Evangélique en Afrique, Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo)

Abstract

Sub-Saharan African countries are among the poorest countries in the world and there is a need to develop their economies. Researchers suggest the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to foster economic development in countries. Internationalisation has been proved to be a key strategy for SME growth. This study investigates the effect of internationalisation on manufacturing SME growth in Kenya. Kenya is a developing country and the leading economy in the East African community. Using data from the World Bank enterprise survey, a sample of 94 SMEs operating in Kenya between 2013 and 2018 was selected. Multiple linear regression analysis using ordinary least square (OLS) was applied and the results revealed that internationalisation through direct exports contributed positively to the growth of manufacturing SMEs in Kenya. The findings of the study suggest that policy makers should promote internationalisation of SMEs in Kenya to improve the doing business environment in general and remove external barriers to internationalisation of SMEs at the national and international level in particular.

Suggested Citation

  • Safari Kulondwa, 2020. "Contribution of Internationalisation to SME Growth: Evidence from the Kenyan Manufacturing Sector," Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 34(1), pages 261-272, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:ecobus:v:34:y:2020:i:1:p:261-272:n:17
    DOI: 10.2478/eb-2020-0017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/eb-2020-0017
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/eb-2020-0017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Piergiuseppe Morone & Giuseppina Testa, 2008. "Firms Growth, Size And Innovation An Investigation Into The Italian Manufacturing Sector," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 311-329.
    2. Chu, Wan-wen, 1997. "Causes of Growth: A Study of Taiwan's Bicycle Industry," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 21(1), pages 55-72, January.
    3. Andrew B. Bernard & Marco Grazzi & Chiara Tomasi, 2010. "Intermediaries in International Trade: direct versus indirect modes of export," LEM Papers Series 2010/19, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Paul, Justin & Parthasarathy, Sundar & Gupta, Parul, 2017. "Exporting challenges of SMEs: A review and future research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 327-342.
    5. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2002. "Financial and legal constraints to firm growth - Does size matter?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2784, The World Bank.
    6. Anna Lejpras, 2009. "Determinants of Internationalization: Differences between Service and Manufacturing SMEs," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 886, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Fisman, Raymond & Svensson, Jakob, 2007. "Are corruption and taxation really harmful to growth? Firm level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 63-75, May.
    8. Padamja Khandelwal, 2004. "Comesa and Sadc: Prospects and Challenges for Regional Trade Integration," IMF Working Papers 2004/227, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Hessels, Jolanda & Parker, Simon C., 2013. "Constraints, internationalization and growth: A cross-country analysis of European SMEs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 137-148.
    10. Daniele Cerrato & Mariacristina Piva, 2012. "The internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises: the effect of family management, human capital and foreign ownership," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(4), pages 617-644, November.
    11. Elena Golovko & Giovanni Valentini, 2011. "Exploring the complementarity between innovation and export for SMEs’ growth," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(3), pages 362-380, April.
    12. Nadine Levratto & Luc Tessier & Messaoud Zouikri, 2010. "The determinants of growth for SMEs. A longitudinal study from French manufacturing firms," EconomiX Working Papers 2010-28, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    13. World Bank, 2020. "World Development Report 2020," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 32437, December.
    14. Jolanda Hessels, 2005. "Internationalisation of Dutch SMEs," Scales Research Reports M200507, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    15. Mr. Meredith A McIntyre, 2005. "Trade Integration in the East African Community: An Assessment for Kenya," IMF Working Papers 2005/143, International Monetary Fund.
    16. Jane W. Lu & Paul W. Beamish, 2001. "The internationalization and performance of SMEs," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 565-586, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stephanie E. Mansion & Andreas Bausch, 2020. "Intangible assets and SMEs’ export behavior: a meta-analytical perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 727-760, October.
    2. Sandberg, Susanne & Sui, Sui & Baum, Matthias, 2019. "Effects of prior market experiences and firm-specific resources on developed economy SMEs' export exit from emerging markets: Complementary or compensatory?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 489-502.
    3. D’Angelo, Alfredo & Buck, Trevor, 2019. "The earliness of exporting and creeping sclerosis? The moderating effects of firm age, size and centralization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 428-437.
    4. Eduardsen, Jonas & Marinova, Svetla Trifonova & González-Loureiro, Miguel & Vlačić, Božidar, 2022. "Business group affiliation and SMEs’ international sales intensity and diversification: A multi-country study," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5).
    5. Zilja, Flladina & Benito, Gabriel R.G. & Boustanifar, Hamid & Zhang, Dan, 2023. "CEO wealth and cross-border acquisitions by SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6).
    6. Vivian Peuker Sardon Steinhäuser & Fábio de Oliveira Paula & Teresia Diana Lewe van Aduard Macedo-Soares, 2021. "Internationalization of SMEs: a systematic review of 20 years of research," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 164-195, June.
    7. Hernández, Virginia & Nieto, María Jesús, 2016. "Inward–outward connections and their impact on firm growth," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 296-306.
    8. Paul, Justin, 2020. "SCOPE framework for SMEs: A new theoretical lens for success and internationalization," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 219-230.
    9. Wang, Miaomiao & Mühlbacher, Hans & Wittmann, Xinhua & Perrett, Pieter, 2021. "Dynamic collaboration between small- and medium-sized enterprises from highly dissimilar markets," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 185-200.
    10. Ramdani, Boumediene & Belaid, Fateh & Boukrami, Elias, 2022. "Profiling exporting SMEs: The role of innovation-orientation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1-13.
    11. Child, John & Narooz, Rose & Hsieh, Linda & Elbanna, Said & Karmowska, Joanna & Marinova, Svetla & Puthusserry, Pushyarag & Tsai, Terence & Zhang, Yunlu, 2022. "External resource provision and the international performance of SMEs – A contextual analysis," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    12. Pisani, Niccolò & Caldart, Adrián & Hopma, Jaël, 2017. "SMEs' formation of minority international joint ventures and level of internationalization: The moderating role of a global versus regional focus," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 414-424.
    13. Lobo Carla Azevedo & Fernandes Cristina & Ferreira João & Veiga Pedro M. & Gerschewski Stephan, 2023. "The Determinants of International Performance for Family Firms: Understanding the Effects of Resources, Capabilities, and Market Orientation," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 13(3), pages 773-811, July.
    14. Guoliang Frank Jiang & Jeffrey J. Reuer & Colette Southam & Paul W. Beamish, 2022. "The impact of initial public offerings on SMEs’ foreign investment decisions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(5), pages 879-901, July.
    15. Pongelli, Claudia & Majocchi, Antonio & Bauweraerts, Jonathan & Sciascia, Salvatore & Caroli, Matteo & Verbeke, Alain, 2023. "The impact of board of directors’ characteristics on the internationalization of family SMEs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    16. Morais, Flávio & Ferreira, João J., 2020. "SME internationalisation process: Key issues and contributions, existing gaps and the future research agenda," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 62-77.
    17. Campos-García, Irene & Muñoz-Bullón, Fernando & Sanchez-Bueno, Maria J. & Zúñiga-Vicente, José Angel, 2020. "Exploring the exporting-downsizing link: Does the type of export strategy and firm efficiency in foreign markets matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 324-336.
    18. Paul, Justin & Parthasarathy, Sundar & Gupta, Parul, 2017. "Exporting challenges of SMEs: A review and future research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 327-342.
    19. Juergensen, Jill Josefina & Narula, Rajneesh & Surdu, Irina, 2022. "A systematic review of the relationship between international diversification and innovation: A firm-level perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2).
    20. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Fernando Úbeda, 2022. "Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 875-900, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Internationalisation; SMEs; Growth; OLS; Exports;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • M16 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - International Business Administration
    • P45 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - International Linkages

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:ecobus:v:34:y:2020:i:1:p:261-272:n:17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.