European J. International Management, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2009 199 Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Does entrepreneurs’ human and relational capital affect early internationalisation? A cross-regional comparison Juan S. Federico Institute of Industry, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Argentina; Department of Business Economics, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Edifici B. 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Email: jfederic@ungs.edu.ar Email: juansalvador.federico@uab.cat Hugo D. Kantis Institute of Industry, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Argentina; J.M. Gutierrez 1150 (1613), Los Polvorines Buenos Aires, Argentina Email: hkantis@ungs.edu.ar Alex Rialp and Josep Rialp* Department of Business Economics, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Edifici B. 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Email: Alex.Rialp@uab.cat Email: Josep.Rialp@uab.cat *Corresponding author Abstract: Using data of young firms from Latin America and Mediterranean Europe, we analyse the influence of human and relational capital on the likelihood of creating an early internationalising firm (EIF). Our results indicate that in the context of Latin American countries entrepreneurs’ characteristics as well as their networks of relationships may influence decisively the likelihood of creating an EIF. Particularly, our findings indicate that young as well as senior, well-educated entrepreneurs who built entrepreneurial teams and, at the same time, had access to larger and more professional networks constitutes the typical profile of an EIF founder in Latin America. In contrast, the results for the Mediterranean Europe sample reveal that human and relational capital variables are less relevant. The results of this paper would contribute to the empirical literature analysing evidence from