Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to identify, categorise and compare regulatory barriers of internationalisation for the SMEs from an emerging market context.

Design/methodology/approach -Using primary data from a questionnaire survey, this paper has developed and validated a partial least square-based structural model to assess the key regulatory barriers of internationalisation with particular attention to the SMEs in Bangladesh.

Findings -The results indicate that both administrative and economic regulatory barriers are significant for the internationalisation of SMEs where administrative regulatory barriers are slightly more substantial in Bangladesh.

Originality/value –Internationalisation of SMEs has received increasing attention over recent decades, but the association between these two components (regulatory barriers and internationalisation of SMEs) is under explored particularly from emerging country context. By integrating findings from previous studies, this study provides further discussion from both theoretical and methodological aspects, and points out the directions for future research.