Abstract
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In this article we review how risk and uncertainty in the international expansion of the firm are treated in the internationalisation and international entrepreneurship literatures, including emerging research in both fields.
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We conclude that there is need for a more nuanced treatment of risk and of uncertainty in the international expansion of firms in their interactions with each other.
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We show that, despite the prevailing perspective in the literature, more uncertainties might be revealed and risk might increase with international experience, thereby inhibiting internationalisation, and in some cases inducing de-internationalisation.
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We introduce the dynamic concepts of uncertainty acclimatisation and risk accommodation as a better recognition of how uncertainty and risk might alter over time.
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Coevolution theory is drawn upon to conceptualise how the interaction and dynamics of perceptions of uncertainty and assessments of risk during the internationalisation process might be developed theoretically.
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Liesch, P.W., Welch, L.S. & Buckley, P.J. Risk and Uncertainty in Internationalisation and International Entrepreneurship Studies. Manag Int Rev 51, 851–873 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-011-0107-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-011-0107-y