Journal of International Management最新文献

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are increasingly off-shoring some of their R&D to emerging markets, including China. Much of the extant literature on MNEs' investments in R&D facilities abroad analyses technological and institutional factors at the national level, typically using regressions to examine how host-country institutions influence foreign MNEs' outlays. It, therefore, tends to downplay the importance of sub-national and non-technology-related institutions, and how configurations of home- and host-country institutions interact to influence R&D commitments abroad. Drawing on the global factory model and the Varieties of Capitalism approach, we identify five causal conditions that may influence MNEs' R&D commitments abroad. Conducting an abductive fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we find four combinations of causal conditions are sufficient to explain substantial R&D commitments in different Chinese provinces. The combination of local corruption and provincial R&D intensity is important, as are the MNE's home-country stock-market capitalization to GDP ratio and minority investor protection. We contribute to the literature on MNEs' investments abroad by extending the importance of sub-national institutions to include those not directly related to technology. We also reveal how combinations of institutions (rather than individual ones acting independently) from the MNE's home and host contexts explain MNEs' R&D commitments in Chinese provinces.

Abstract

State capitalism has been a growing phenomenon since the early 2010s. This is especially the case in emerging markets, in which the state plays a viable and strong role. As it has become particularly prominent due to the international activities of stateowned enterprises (SOEs), state capitalism has been widely discussed in the international business literature. Scholars have emphasized the need to explore the various kinds of state capitalism and to advance our knowledge of its influence on the international activities of firms, beyond that it exerts on SOEs. We proposed the concept of state capitalism as embodied by an omnipresent state that influences the internationalization of both state-owned and private firms. Integrating institutional theory and agency theory, we examined the international activities of Russian SOEs and private firms over the 2013-2018 period and found state ownership and political connections to be the two mechanisms by which state capitalism in Russia can negatively affect the internationalization activities of Russian firms.

As emerging market enterprises (EMEs) shift from passive foreign capital acquisition to proactive “going global” strategies, do their outbound cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) stimulate innovation? By analyzing China's M&A data from 2007 to 2020, we explore firms' total R&D, exploitative R&D, and exploratory R&D. Employing difference-in-differences (DID) and propensity score matching (PSM) methodologies, our findings indicate that, compared to inbound cross-border M&As, proactive outbound cross-border M&As promote firms' exploitative R&D but inhibit total and exploratory R&D. EMEs engaged in outbound and inbound cross-border M&As exhibit distinct R&D orientations. The effects of outbound cross-border M&As on firms' R&D are moderated differently by government subsidies and the intensity of regional intellectual property protection. Further analysis underscores the advantages of participating in cross-border M&As (firms as acquirers and targets) over domestic M&As. Moreover, outbound cross-border M&As increase firms' substantial innovation outputs. Our study further proves that what drives the results is not solely the international dimension of M&As; proactive engagement in outbound cross-border M&As holds greater significance.

Host country nationals (HCNs) possess unique and valuable knowledge which is critical to expatriate and multinational company (MNC) success. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we explore the negative effect of role overload on HCNs' knowledge sharing toward expatriates. Using two waves of data collected from 512 HCNs, we find HCNs' role overload inhibits their knowledge sharing behavior via perspective taking. The results also show that HCNs' personality agreeableness buffers the negative relationship between role overload and perspective taking. Our study provides significant theoretical and practical implications to expatriate literature.

Building on effectuation theory, this paper investigates the role of entrepreneurial autonomy in driving emerging market SMEs' internationalization. Based on insights from multiple case studies and archival data from emerging market SMEs, this study finds that employees lack autonomy in their duties. A developed model also helps us to clarify how effectuation decision-making—balancing partnership and pre-commitment, opportunity exploitation and investment ceiling, business development with emerging opportunities and exploiting resources and capabilities, flexibility, proactiveness toward waste reduction—strengthen concentration of autonomy in top management. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are presented.

Additive manufacturing has recently gained prominence in the international business literature due to its disruptive potential. The paper aims to investigate the intersection between additive manufacturing and international business to identify and highlight challenges and opportunities tied to its adoption. Additionally, the study proposes a broader perspective on internalization and global value chain theory to understand the implications of additive manufacturing for the global strategy of international business ventures. This study employs both thematic and content analysis using academic sources and professional documents such as business cases, newspaper articles, and specialized blogs. The goal is to bridge the gap between industry and academia on additive manufacturing in international business. Our integrated view from both academia and industry reveals how the adoption of additive manufacturing has several potential benefits, ranging from the shortening of the value chain, enhanced customer relationships through higher levels of customization, and a more sustainable production pattern with reduced environmental impact compared to traditional manufacturing. Along with the benefits, this study illustrates a few challenges that might hinder the adoption of additive manufacturing in international business, with theoretical and practical implications.

While a firm can minimize its own political risk, there are idiosyncratic and country-specific risks that are more difficult to control. In particular, home country governments pursue their own foreign policies independently of business, forging international linkages with other countries in pursuit of tangible benefits. But what happens when a government forges connectivity to a country which exhibits volatility or generates geopolitical shocks? This paper examines this question by studying the response of European stock markets to the ongoing (since 2014) Russian invasion of Ukraine. Using a variety of metrics to measure political connectivity, we distinguish between anti-Russian governments and governments which are more favorable to Russia during this period, combining this connectivity data with a new database of sanctions and war-related events. Applying asymmetric GARCH, panel estimations, and event study methods, we find that the uncertainty caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine has harmed financial markets in countries such as Serbia and Hungary, countries which have willingly forged connections with Russia during this time. Consistently, our empirical results show that, by tying a country to another one via political means, politicians also have tied the fortunes of their capital markets to the success or failure of this partner.

This study considers the combined effects of formal (i.e., national governance) and informal (i.e., national culture) institutions on corruption based on a sample of 52 African countries over the 2007–2022 period. Employing institutional theory, our findings are three-fold. First, we find weak formal institutions (i.e., national governance systems) to be associated with higher levels of corruption. Second, regarding the effects of informal institutions (i.e., national culture) on the level of corruption, our results suggest that high power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and collectivism are associated with higher levels of corruption. However, masculinity has a negative and significant influence on the level of corruption in Africa. Finally, our main results indicate that the joint effect of formal (national governance) and informal (national culture) institutions tends to be associated with a high incidence of corruption at societal level.

This study seeks to understand why and how multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries use non-market strategies to establish legitimacy in weak institutional environments. By adopting an in-depth qualitative approach, we explore the non-market strategies enacted by four MNE subsidiaries operating in Cameroon. We find that MNE subsidiaries endeavour to gain legitimacy and social reputation in weak institutional environments by engaging with multiple local stakeholders through corporate social responsibility and political non-market strategies. Our findings support the previous studies on emerging African markets that the host-country government remains the most critical and challenging stakeholder. However, firms experience legitimacy risks due to their strong ties with the government during periods of political and social instability. The subsidiaries mesh social with political strategies and use them as complementary strategies for developing their social reputation and gaining social license to operate in the host market, thus mitigating social and political risks from aligning with the host government. We draw implications of these findings for research and practice.

Our study examines the impact of perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived social costs (PSC) in advice-seeking on the relationship between expatriate advice-seeking from host country nationals (HCNs) and expatriate adjustment. We conducted two studies: (1) a field study with survey data collected from Indian expatriates in the U.S. and (2) an experimental study. Findings from our research reveal a significant three-way interaction between expatriate advice-seeking, POS, and PSC. Specifically, the moderating effect of POS was more pronounced among expatriates perceiving low social costs in seeking advice from HCNs. PSC emerged as a significant barrier to expatriate adjustment, outweighing the positive effects of high POS. However, when expatriates perceive low PSC in advice-seeking, organizational support becomes more effective compared to situations with high perceived social costs. This research advances the understanding of expatriate coping and organizational support theory by highlighting the boundary conditions of POS in facilitating expatriate adjustment.