Does Gender Matter in the Export Performance of International New Ventures? Mediation Effects of Firm-specific and Country-specific Advantages

Based on a sample of 4240 Korean firms, this study explores the relationship between owner gender and export performance of international new ventures (INVs) by investigating four mediating mechanisms: venture capital financing, upstream firm-specific advantages, downstream firm-specific advantages, and country-specific advantages. Our empirical findings are threefold: (1) female-owned ventures are disadvantageous in obtaining access to venture capital, but venture capital financing is not positively associated with their export performance; (2) male-owned ventures achieve better export performance through superior innovation and marketing capabilities (i.e., mediation effects) than their female-owned counterparts; (3) while gender is not associated with the home-region destination of exports, the country destination of exports within the Asia-Pacific region positively affects INVs' export performance.