How the founders' general and specific human capital drives export activities of start-ups

At first glance, a typical start-up does not seem to have the required capabilities to enter foreign markets. Nevertheless, 26% of the firms of a representative sample of Swiss start-ups already perform export activities three years after their foundation, and the firms with export activities generate 39% of their sales abroad on average. Previous studies identified the founders’ human capital as an important driver of early internationalization. In this paper, however, we find that differences exist in the effect of the founders’ general and specific human capital. While the founders’ general human capital affects both export propensity and intensity, their export-specific experience only affects export propensity but not intensity. Furthermore, we find evidence that the effect of general human capital is more persistent than the effect of specific human capital.