The effects of entrepreneurs’ characteristics on internationalisation of gazelle firms: a case of Lithuania

In recent years so-called Gazelle firms or high growth firms (H.G.F.s) have been the interest of policymakers, however little is known about entrepreneur-level determinants affecting internationalisation of these firms. Thus, the research aims to extend the literature addressing the impact of entrepreneurs' characteristics on the internationalisation of H.G.F.s in Lithuania. The research sample was drawn from the population of Lithuanian H.G.F.s directly approaching the owners and members of the management team. The final sample included 177 internationalised firms. The analysis was based on the binomial logistic regression to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that entrepreneurial networks and foreign language capabilities of owners/managers are good predictors of internationalisation degree. However, the research confirms the decreasing effect of domestic ties, the higher degree of internationalisation. The research did not reveal the significance of entrepreneurial and managerial competencies of owners/managers for internationalisation success. Furthermore, the study did not support the relationship of owners/managers' education abroad and internationalisation. The research makes the twofold contribution to the extant literature. First, the research develops and tests the relationships surrounding the internationalisation of H.G.F.s as related to managerial and entrepreneurial competencies, entrepreneurial networks and international background of owners/managers. Second, the research highlights entrepreneur-level determinants affecting internationalisation of H.G.F.s in Central and Eastern European (C.E.E.) country’s context.