Purpose

This article examines whether international readiness, including innovation, competition, technology-orientation and opportunity perception, impacts on internationalization of small businesses differently in Asian countries compared to the complete GEM sample.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses data from the Adult Population Survey – Global Entrepreneurship Monitor carried out in sixty nine countries yielding a cross-country total of 198,339 entrepreneurs. A binomial logit regression model is used to examine the data.

Findings

Results show that there are differences for Asian countries compared to the whole sample regarding innovation-related drivers. In Asian countries, for small businesses, internationalization is less sensitive to product innovation and to opportunities’ perception than for the rest of the countries.

Practical implications

This study has practical relevance as it provides numerous clues regarding the question of how small business (or new ventures) might enhance chances to become successful exporters.

Originality/value

This study addresses an area that is believed to be less studied. The study compares the proposed relationships between two data sub-samples that represent the Asian countries and the complete GEM sample. The article concludes with a discussion of the main contributions and limitations and suggests future research avenues.

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