Combining local and international embeddedness in a rural context

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to explore the distinctiveness of international entrepreneurship in a rural context. Based on theory about international entrepreneurship, rural entrepreneurship and embeddedness, the study explores how international small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are embedded in their local and international contexts and how these two forms of embeddedness are combined. A case study of six SMEs that started their internationalization by crossing the border from rural North-Norway to the northwest parts of Russia is adopted. The book chapter offers a detailed description of how the case companies are embedded across the border and identifies three distinct ways of how they have combined local and international embeddedness. The first way is related to taking advantages of being dis-embedded, the second to balancing local and international embeddedness and the third to using embeddedness to reinforce further internationalization. This book chapter contributes to the international entrepreneurship literature by contextualizing international opportunity development to a rural context and to the rural entrepreneurship literature by demonstrating distinct ways of how local embeddedness can be combined with other forms of embeddedness.