Drawing on the experience of firms of various sizes from Francophone Africa, we explore how the internationalization trajectories of frontier economy firms may vary from those predicted by theory. The firms studied followed social, linguistic, cultural, and institutional gradients to internationalize first to France, rather than to neighboring countries, and did so in search of not only markets and resources but also legitimacy. In turn, the sales, resources, and legitimacy acquired in France supported further international expansion, sometimes even to neighboring countries. Although our insights derive from the experience of Francophone firms from Africa, we argue that for firms from all former colonies, the internationalization trajectory leads through the colonial center. Our findings underline the roles of legitimacy-seeking and network ties in the internationalization of frontier market firms and serve as a salutatory reminder of the lingering influence of colonial ties on international business.

中文翻译：

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大都会效应：对讲法语的非洲公司国际化的殖民影响

借鉴非洲法语国家不同规模企业的经验，我们探讨了前沿经济企业的国际化轨迹可能与理论预测的不同。所研究的公司遵循社会、语言、文化和制度梯度，首先国际化到法国，而不是邻国，这样做不仅是为了寻找市场和资源，而且是为了寻求合法性。反过来，在法国获得的销售、资源和合法性支持了进一步的国际扩张，有时甚至扩展到邻国。尽管我们的见解来自非洲讲法语的公司的经验，但我们认为，对于来自所有前殖民地的公司来说，国际化轨迹会通过殖民中心。