Born Global Firms: Evolution of a Contemporary Phenomenon

Born global firms undertake international business at or near their founding. In general, they are a type of highly international small and mediumsized enterprise. In the past two decades, born globals have emerged in substantial numbers worldwide, in conjunction with evolutionary trends in globalization and advanced information and communications technologies. In this paper, I summarize extant literature on born globals. I also address their role in the emergent field of international entrepreneurship and the linkage to national competitive advantage. Finally, I suggest numerous research directions on born globals, especially in the context of emerging markets.