موسسات محلی، سرمایه سیاسی و بین المللی از شرکت های کارآفرینی در اقتصادهای در حال توسعه  Subnational institutions, political capital, and the internationalization of entrepreneurial firms in emerging  economies

1. Introduction How do external factors such as location and regional institutions impact entrepreneurial firms’ internationalization strategies? Drawing on a long line of research on the role of exogenous factors such as institutions and geography on economic activity (Acemoglu, 2003; McCloskey, 2013; Rodrik & Subramanian, 2003) and grounded in the industry-based view, extant research in international business (IB) has investigated the influence of host country environments on firm strategies in a range of settings (e.g., Ahlstrom, Levitas, Hitt, Dacin, & Zhu, 2014; Dikova, Jaklic, 9 Burger, & Kunci 9 c, 9 2016; Hitt, Li, & Xu, 2016). Other recent work shows how home country environments, in particular both formal and informal country-level institutional environments, exert important influences on firms’ actions regarding internationalization and other outcomes (Meyer, Estrin, Bhaumik, & Peng, 2009; Wan & Hoskisson, 2003; Yamakawa, Peng, & Deeds, 2008). Less is known, however, about the influence of subnational institutions in the home country on firms’ internationalization strategies. This gap is important because there is an uneven distribution of institutional development across subnational regions in many countries, including large emerging countries (Chan, Makino, & Isobe, 2010a). In addition, other differentiating factors, such as different subcultures and dialects, exist (Dow, Cuypers, & Ertug, 2016; Gong, Chow, & Ahlstrom, 2011; Redfern & Crawford, 2010). Relatedly, the strategic management and international business literature streams have started to shed more light on the effects of subnational regions on firm performance (Chan et al., 2010a; Ma, Tong, & Fitza, 2013). Thus, the main purpose of this study is to join these research streams by examining how within home-country variations of institutions influence firms’ internationalization strategies.