THE LAST TWO DECADES OF THE STATE OF THE ART OF INTERNATIONALIZATION OF SMEs

Abstract

The internationalization of SMEs is a theme that has seen an exponential increase in scientific production in recent decades. This study aims to analyze the state of the art on the internationalization of SMEs as well as to identify the main themes addressed in the literature on internationalization. Based on analysis of 231 articles collected in the Wos database, dating from 2000 to 2020, the results made it possible to circumscribe the research to the most important topics in the area of internationalization of smes. The main contribution of this investigation is the configuration of a knowledge map of the motor themes in the internationalization cluster and the development of suggestions for future work in this area.