Abstract
International opportunity recognition (IOR) has been identified as being a critical process within international entrepreneurship (IE), as evidenced by the increase in the scholarly literature on the topic in the last 15 years. Despite the importance of a more rigorous approach to IOR studies, current knowledge concerning progress on this subject is scarce. The main objective of this study is to provide researchers with a better understanding of how research on IOR has evolved over the years. Thus, this study analyzes IOR evolutionary development by examining the conceptual evolution and mapping the structure of IOR research relating to IE, in order to provide insights into scholarly research as well as to detect current and future trends. Two complementary tools, SciMAT and VOSviewer, are used for this analysis. In addition, a bibliometric performance analysis focused on indicators such as productivity, citations, and the h-Index was carried out. The results show that IOR research has undergone a significant increase in recent years (2014–2018) evolving from an emerging issue between 1987 and 2012 to became a key topic which, however, must continue to be developed. The most productive journal is the Journal of International Entrepreneurship. The leading three publishing countries are Australia, the USA, and the UK. Moreover, it could be argued that in the emerging years, the IOR phenomenon was treated at both company level and individual level, but the most recent studies are investigating this phenomenon mainly at an individual level. As our main conclusion, it could be said that despite the growth in IOR research, study in this field is still very scarce, which allows us to suggest some future research directions.
Resumen
La Identificación de Oportunidades Internacionales (IOI) ha sido identificado como un proceso crítico dentro del Emprendimiento Internacional (EI), como lo demuestra el aumento de la literatura académica sobre este tema en los últimos 15 años. A pesar de la importancia de este tema, el estado actual sobre su literatura es escaso. El objetivo de este estudio es proporcionar a los investigadores una mejor comprensión de cómo ha evolucionado la investigación sobre el fenómeno de la IOI. Para ello, este estudio analiza el desarrollo evolutivo de la IOI a través de un análisis conceptual y del mapeo científico del mismo dentro del EI, con el fin de proporcionar una visión amplia de la investigación académica, así como detectar las tendencias actuales y futuras. Dos herramientas complementarias, SciMAT y VOSviewer, se utilizan para este análisis. Además, se llevó a cabo un análisis bibliométrico del rendimiento centrado en indicadores como la productividad, las citas y el Índice-h. Los resultados muestran que la investigación de la IOI ha experimentado un aumento significativo en los últimos años (2014-2018), pasando de ser un tema emergente entre 1987-2012 a convertirse en un tema clave que, sin embargo, debe seguir desarrollándose. La revista más productiva es la Journal of International Entrepreneurship. Los tres países más productivos son Australia, los Estados Unidos y el Reino Unido. Además, se podría argumentar que en los años emergentes el fenómeno de la IOI fue tratado tanto a nivel de empresa como a nivel individual, pero los estudios más recientes están investigando este fenómeno sólo a nivel individual. Como conclusión principal, podría decirse que a pesar del crecimiento de la investigación de la IOI, el estudio en este campo es todavía muy escaso, lo que nos permite sugerir algunas direcciones de investigación futuras.
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The authors want to express their gratitude to Editor-in-Chief Professor Hamid Etemad and the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions that helped to improve this manuscript.
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Terán-Yépez, E., Jiménez-Castillo, D. & Sánchez-Pérez, M. International opportunity recognition: A comprehensive bibliometric review. J Int Entrep 19, 18–52 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-020-00276-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-020-00276-2