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Over the past ten years we have witnessed a massive increase in numbers of small firms that have internationalized right after their establishment. In some countries, like for example Norway, it has become the rule rather than the exception among international firms. This is an intriguing observation as they traditionally have been considered a theoretical impossibility. Today we see that such firms constitute a considerable share of the economy and that the traditional internationalization models render very little explanatory power to the new phenomenon. This book, based on Dr Aspelund´s PhD dissertation at NTNU from 2005, will provide an overview over the field of small international firms with special focus on the emergence of International New Ventures. It offers a state-of-the art in the research on International New Ventures and reports findings from three other relevant studies on the growth of small firms on the international trade arena.

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Dr Arild Aspelund graduated PhD in International Marketing from NTNU in April 2005. Currently, he is Associate Professor in Marketing at NTNU and teaches courses related to marketing, international business and international business development. Dr Aspelund s primary research focus is on the phenomenon of International New Ventures.

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