Innovation Intensity as a Driver of Firm’s Internationalization Intensity: Evidence for Poland

The aim of the article is an empirical identification of the relationship between the extent of innovation and the extent of internationalization in the cross-sectional sample of firms from Poland. Firstly, both extents of innovation and of internationalization are defined, calculated and analyzed separately and then jointly. The mean changing characteristics of companies along two dimensions are depicted. Secondly, the nexus between internationalization and innovation is econometrically analyzed with the use of OLS, MNL, OL, and IV models. Thirdly, the role of both in the likelihood of firm-exports is assessed in a logit model. The obtained results are in line with the postulates of the firm heterogeneity theory. Productivity seems to be a principal driver of firm exports and firm internationalization. Positive correlation between innovation and internationalization extents is robust with the majority of firm’s inferior performance in both dimensions and, in particular, in comparison to the Western European counterparts. The joint distribution along the two analyzed dimensions shows a pyramidal structure with a peak at low levels of internationalization and innovation. There is some support for the causality going from innovation to internationalization. However, more research is necessary for a panel setting to verify this statement thoroughly.