This meta-analysis investigates the relationships between strategic elements of international entrepreneurship (IE)—degree, scope, and speed of internationalization—and behavioral elements of international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO)—innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking—with financial performance. Drawing on 96 studies, our findings reveal that behavioral elements of IEO have a stronger positive relationship with financial performance (r = .32) compared to strategic elements of IE (r = .10). These results emphasize the critical role of entrepreneurial behaviors, such as risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness, in navigating the uncertainty and complexity of global markets. In contrast, strategic decisions like the degree, scope, and speed of internationalization exhibit a smaller yet significant impact. These findings address conceptual fragmentation in the field by integrating IE and IEO perspectives and offer a parsimonious and comparative understanding of each on financial performance. Our findings contribute to advancing theory in international entrepreneurship and offer actionable insights for practitioners seeking to optimize global financial performance.
