Title: Chief executive officers' characteristics and the internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises: a quantile regression approach

Authors: Abubakr Saeed; Ishtiaq Ahmad; Muhammad Saad Baloch; Judit Oláh; József Popp; Domicián Máté

Addresses: Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan ' Department of Management Sciences, National University of Modern Languages, H-9, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan ' Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan ' Faculty of Economics and Business, Institute of Applied Informatics and Logistics, University of Debrecen, 4032, Debrecen, Hungary; TRADE Research Entity, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa ' Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, SzentIstván University, 2100, Gödöllő, Hungary; TRADE Research Entity, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa ' University of Debrecen, Institute of Industrial Process Management, Faculty of Engineering, University of Debrecen, 4028, Debrecen, Hungary

Abstract: Chief executive officers (CEOs) play a crucial role in the managerial decisions of firms. The objective of this study is to analyse the role of CEOs in the internationalisation of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). Explicitly, the study investigates the impact of CEOs' demographic characteristics on the internationalisation of SMEs. Based on the theoretical perspective of the resource-based view, the upper echelons theory, and the information processing theory, the study assumes that CEOs' characteristics, including tenure, education, age and political connectedness, affect the international performance of SMEs. Applying a novel (quantile) regression technique on UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises for the period from 2005 to 2015, the study offers evidence of CEOs' political connections. Moreover, the results show that educational levels positively influence the internationalisation, while tenure and age negatively influence the internationalisation of SMEs.

Keywords: chief executive officer; internationalisation; SMEs; tenure; age; political connectedness; education.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2024.138408

European Journal of International Management, 2024 Vol.23 No.1, pp.88 - 111

Received: 27 Sep 2018
Accepted: 10 Oct 2019
Published online: 03 May 2024 *

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