Unpacking the effect of institutional support on international corporate entrepreneurship in entrepreneurial support systems

Extent research is unclear about the relationship between entrepreneurship support systems and international corporate entrepreneurship (ICE) in emerging economies. This research considered entrepreneurial support systems essentially act as institutional intermediaries and consider resource slack as a mediating variable and dual network embeddedness as a moderating variable to explore the effects of formal institutional support and informal institutional support on ICE. Based on an empirical analysis of data from 480 valid questionnaires from small multinational corporations (MNCs) in Asia-Pacific region, this research found that (1) institutional support has a positive effect on ICE; (2) resource slack mediates institutional support and ICE; and (3) local network embeddedness has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between institutional support and resource slack, and ultra-local network embeddedness has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between institutional support and resource slack. The findings of the study echo the call of scholars to pay attention to the influence of institutional factors on ICE, and clarify the process of institutional support in the entrepreneurial support system on ICE.