%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2020 %T The Importance of Global Business Hubs on Internationalizing SMEs: an empirical analysis of psychic and geographic distance %A Pascal Wild %K business network hubs %K international entrepreneurship %K liability of foreignness %K network view %K SME internationalization %X This article investigates the influence of psychic and geographic distance, as well as country and market-related variables, on the preference of high-technology small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to connect with, and settle in major business hubs. Literature in the field of SME internationalization and international entrepreneurship increasingly emphasizes a network approach in which the characteristics and linkages of the internationalizing firm’s network are studied. We aim to contribute to this network-based internationalization research by integrating a further element present in complex social and technical networks: network hubs. Hubs are highly connected nodes within a network. In global business, hubs can be defined as business sites that have a high interconnection with the world economy through tremendous flows of goods and capital. The empirical findings of our research suggest that internationalizing high technology SMEs tend to connect with, or settle in to foreign market business hubs, when focal markets are more distant from their home market. These findings are significant for both geographic and psychic distances between home and focal markets. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 10 %P 35-47 %8 04/2020 %G eng %U timreview.ca/article/1345 %N 4 %1 School of Management Fribourg Pascal Wild is an Assistant Professor at the School of Management Fribourg (member of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland [HES-SO]) and teaches undergraduate and graduate students. He holds a Master of Science in Business Administration and a PhD in Social Sciences (orientation Socioeconomics) from the University of Geneva. His research interests lie in the areas of international entrepreneurship, global cities, and emerging markets. %& 35 %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1345