ABSTRACT
It is often taken for granted that most small fi rms aim to grow (e.g., Autio et al. 2000, Yli-Renko et al. 2002, Heinonen and Pukkinen 2006). Given the limitation of growth opportunities within national boundaries in small economies and among fi rms operating in niche markets in particular, the logical continuation of this aim would be to grow internationally. However, research has demonstrated that not all small fi rms seek growth, and that the ones that do may also focus on regional and domestic markets (Heinonen et al. 2004, Nummela et al. 2005). Indeed, empirical evidence of a relationship between fi rm growth and internationalization is scarce (Antoncic and Hisrich 2000), and there is a misconception that internationalization automatically leads to growth (Paavilainen and Kuuluvainen 2008).
