When do domestic alliances help ventures abroad? Direct and moderating effects from a learning perspective

•Domestic alliances influence new venture internationalization when we consider partners’ international experience•Internationally experienced domestic partners substitute for lack of venture top management teams’ international experience•Internationally experienced domestic partners complement learning from foreign partners

While the importance of strategic alliances for new venture internationalization is well acknowledged, the effect of domestic partners remains less understood. Building on organizational learning theory's vicarious learning arguments, we suggest that internationally experienced domestic partners positively influence new ventures' international intensity. Moreover, acknowledging that ventures may have multiple learning sources, we argue that the effect is more pronounced when substituting for the lack of new ventures' top management teams' international experience, or when complementing the insights about foreign markets received from foreign alliance partners. The analysis of 194 publicly held new ventures largely supports our hypotheses.