Capital structure of enterprises in the process of internationalization

Purpose: The aim of the article is to define the capital structure in Polish enterprises – in the group of enterprises exporting their products and in the group of enterprises that do not conduct export activities. Design/methodology/approach: 30 companies representing various sectors of the economy were taken into account for the preliminary research. In the first group of 15 companies that exported their products (the first stage of internationalization), the capital structure was examined, determining the level of financing with equity and foreign capital. The research scheme from the first group was also used in the second examined group – enterprises that do not export their products. Each surveyed group included a company that represented one selected sector. A case study for three Polish listed companies was also used. Findings: Thus, the view of foreign authors based on the results of their study that, in emerging markets countries, companies that have internationalised their activities have higher levels of indebtedness than companies operating only domestically, should not be considered as confirmed (for the time being on the example of pilot studies). Originality/value: The results of the preliminary research made it possible to identify the most important differences in the capital structure for companies that exported their products and companies that did not export.