Choice of markets for initial export activities: Differences between early and late exporters

• Early exporters simultaneously face to liabilities of newness and liabilities of foreignness.
• Early exporters begin exporting to a greater number of countries than late exporters.
• Early exporters initiate export activities to countries that are institutionally closer than non-INVs.
• Financial resources influence initial exports only in the case of late exporters.
• Financial resources do not have a significant effect in the case of early exporters.

The behaviour of early exporters not only challenges the perspective of the sequential process of internationalization, but it also questions general concepts in the field of management, such as the liability of newness and the liability of foreignness. This study analyses how firms initiate their export activities and proposes differences between early exporters and other firms. The results of our empirical investigation demonstrate that early exporters begin exporting to a greater number of countries than late exporters. However, in the case of early exporters, those countries are institutionally closer to the country of origin of the firm. Finally, we analyze the role played by financial resources in the choice of markets for those initial exports.