Overview

Antje Fiedler is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland Business School and Director of the New Zealand Asia Institute. Her research examines how entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises mobilise knowledge, networks and ecosystem resources to innovate, internationalise and respond to economic and societal change, with a particular focus on New Zealand’s engagement with Asia.

 

Her research contributes to two closely connected areas. The first advances knowledge spillover and entrepreneurial ecosystem research by examining how power, institutions, values and connections across places shape entrepreneurial activity and sustainability transitions. The second investigates SME internationalisation, including the development and dissolution of international partnerships, network search, governance, resilience, assets of foreignness and digital connectivity.

 

Her work has been published in journals including the International Journal of Management Reviews, Small Business Economics, International Small Business Journal, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Journal of Technology Transfer, International Business Review, Management International Review, Human Relations and Journal of Business Venturing Insights.

 

Academic leadership and recognition

Antje holds an extensive portfolio of editorial leadership appointments. She is:

• Editor of Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal;
• Editor of the Journal of the International Council for Small Business;
• Editor of Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship;
• Associate Editor of the Journal of Small Business Management;
• Associate Editor of Review of Managerial Science;
• Associate Editor of Eurasian Economic Review; and
• Deputy Editor of Small Enterprise Research.

 

She also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Critical Perspectives on International Business.

 

Her contribution to the academic community has been recognised through a 2025 Best Reviewer Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management and an Outstanding Reviewer recognition from Emerald Publishing and Critical Perspectives on International Business. She has also received three Excellence Awards for Teaching from the University of Auckland Business School.

 

Current research

Antje’s current research investigates how entrepreneurial activity is changing as ecosystems become more internationally connected, digitally mediated and oriented towards sustainability. Current projects examine how entrepreneurs assemble resources across multiple city and national ecosystems; how AI, digital platforms and support organisations shape entrepreneurial learning and capability development; how digital distance affects international SME relationships; and how universities, startups and ecosystem actors contribute to sustainability transitions.

This work brings together entrepreneurship and international business research to explain how entrepreneurs and SMEs operate across organisational, geographical and institutional boundaries.

 

International and external engagement

As Director of the New Zealand Asia Institute, Antje leads research and engagement concerning New Zealand’s economic, academic and institutional relationships with Asia. She previously served as Associate Director and Acting Director of the Institute.

She is Vice President for Academic and Industry Engagement and a Director of the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand. She is also a Senior Research Fellow and Advisory Board member of the Institute for Development Strategies at Indiana University and a Board Member of the India New Zealand Business Council.

 

 

Qualifications:
PhD in Management, The University of Auckland, New Zealand