Theoretical approach to the internationalization of SMEs: future research prospects based on bibliometric analysis

Abstract

SMEs are considered as the important factor for economic development of countries and thus, internationalization of SMEs plays a significant role in this phenomenon. The internationalization theories are still expanding and being developed by the scholars. While a number of studies explained internationalization, investigations of international behavior of SMEs demonstrates mixed results. The paper aims to overview the theories of internationalization and reveal the interpretations of internationalization concept. The research is based on analysis and synthesis of the scientific literature. In addition, the bibliometric data of accomplished studies in the field of SMEs internationalization were analyzed. The data were collected from Clarivate analytics database. The yearly number of articles in 1990-2019, top authors, journals and locations were considered. Visualization graphics with "VOSviewer" software were developed based on the same bibliometric data. The graphics reflected co-citations of keywords, authors, sources, and referencies among the selected articles. The research contributes to the prevailing studies by revealing the trends and possible research streams