Internationalization of High Tech Firms:

The traditional focus on inquiry on the internationalization of small firms has been on their export intensity. However, export intensity cannot be built until after the firm chooses to enter export markets. This paper will examine seperately the influences on initial entry into international markets and export intensity. In doing so, the paper explores the notion that different factors are operative at different stages on internationalization. A second contribution of this paper is to examine a wider range of prospective drivers of internationalization than has been typical in most research. Internationalization has been modeled to be a function of the firm's demographic characteristics and the attitudes of management. This paper builds on this research by incoroporating additional variables reflecting the influence of the firm's strategy and industry environment.