International Business Review最新文献

This study examines whether overseas manufacturing subsidiaries are divested or kept under rising production costs and uncertain market demands in their host countries. We predict that even under increasing production costs, a subsidiary will not be divested but kept under high market demand uncertainty. A multinomial logit analysis of Korean overseas manufacturing subsidiaries finds that an overseas manufacturing subsidiary exposed to high labor cost growth in its host country is not divested but kept alive under high market demand uncertainty via cross-border production volume adjustments with other in-network subsidiaries in different countries. It also shows that the moderating impact of demand uncertainty on production shifts over divestment is pronounced more for the subsidiaries with low cross-country labor cost correlation, high product compatibility, and high ownership share. These findings imply that the longevity of subsidiary operations is shaped by geographic and organizational characteristics determining production shift conditions.

This study explores when conflict between foreign investors and local communities is likely to arise in large-scale agricultural land acquisitions (agricultural LSLAs) in developing countries. As prior studies emphasize stakeholder management of investors, we know relatively little about how the institutional environments surrounding LSLAs shape patterns of conflict. Combining insights from studies on informal community institutions, social movement, and comparative development, I develop arguments on how conflict is associated with liberal economic institutions and how this association is moderated by democratic institutions and inequality of both host and home countries. An analysis of 436 LSLAs between 2000 and 2019 based on Heckman’s sample selection models strongly supports the arguments. This study extends our understanding of conflict by incorporating interactions among multiple dimensions of institutions. It also contributes to the comparative development research by shedding light on the uniqueness of rural communities in developing countries compared with other non-elite actors.

Process research develops our understanding of the emergence, flow, and evolution of phenomena over time through ongoing activities and events. The field of international business has long been concerned with developing an understanding of various kinds of processes over time. Yet, several international business scholars have called for more studies that recognize the process-based nature of international business phenomena. This paper therefore discusses the challenges of process research in international business and offers insight into how they may be addressed. We draw on the broader methodological literature and on exemplar process studies in international business to explore and illustrate a repertoire of methodological tools that may be useful in assembling the three critical ingredients of high-quality process research: rich process data, insightful process theory, and credible but creative coupling between the two.

This paper addresses into the pivotal role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in spearheading global sustainability, particularly by aligning their innovations with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We underscore a paradigm shift in international business, emphasizing the pressing need for sustainable practices among MNEs in the face of grand global challenges such as climate change, political instability, trade protectionism, and inequality. We discuss the innovation ecosystems and stakeholder approach as an essential conceptual framework for examining drivers and outcomes of MNEs’ sustainable innovations. The paper offers a fresh perspective on integrating corporate goals with broader sustainability targets by connecting with stakeholders of local communities in host countries who are attuned to idiosyncratic sustainability challenges.

This study investigates what knowledge resources and capabilities are needed at the unit and individual levels to manage international intra- and inter-organizational relationships in global account management (GAM). These GAM units and individuals need to manage various relationships with different locations within the globally spread supplier firm (international intra-organizational relationships) and with the global client (international inter-organizational relationships). We find that, in GAM units, international intra-organizational relationships are managed using relationship internal knowledge resources and capabilities, while international inter-organizational relationships are managed with external knowledge resources and capabilities. Interestingly, the opposite is found for GAM individuals. The core finding of our research is that managing the GAM relationships is not a one-size-fits-all affair. Balancing relationships and internal and external knowledge resources and capabilities is critical for GAM units and individuals to offer high-quality, innovative services. Implications of our research on GAM literature and the knowledge-based view are discussed.

Our study replicates a US study and an Australian study in the Italian context to address whether the home- country context influences the nature of dynamic capabilities (DCs) that are developed and deployed in small, entrepreneurial firms for these firms to internationalize. We measure a suite of dynamic capabilities and relate these to innovation in the firm which is put to internationalization. The Italian findings portray two logics, a dominant entrepreneur’s logic and a lesser significant entrepreneurial logic. The entrepreneur’s logic is centered on the entrepreneur and their vision and is dominant in the Italian model. The entrepreneurial logic, based on the bundling of DCs to learn from internal and external environments, is represented in all three countries. Our three-country comparison illustrates that dynamic capability development and deployment is indeed context-dependent. Notwithstanding contextual differences across Italian and Anglo-Saxon countries, which present spatial boundary conditions, the theoretical configuration of DCs, innovation and internationalization we replicated is retained, suggesting that it has potential to be developed further into an actionable theory of DCs for the small, entrepreneurial firm that internationalizes.

In the last three decades, cross-border mergers and acquisitions have been the most preferred vehicle for unprecedented internationalization and integration of the global economy. This paper synthesizes the empirical research examining the impact of formal institutions related to state effectiveness, corporate governance and investor protection, and inter-country institutional differences on cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Our review summarizes a total of 156 studies across strategy, international business, finance, and economics literature published from 1995–2023. It presents a synthesized framework across each phase of cross-border mergers and acquisitions. In parallel, we identify opportunities for future research that should address the limitations in the existing stream of research and push the boundaries through the novel integration of theoretical lenses.

Prior research predominantly focuses on institutional drivers of different levels of entrepreneurship across countries instead of specific types of entrepreneurship that can create considerable economic impact. In contrast, we investigate which formal institutions (i.e., government integrity, regulatory efficiency, and trade freedom) affect ambitious entrepreneurship (AE). Ambitious entrepreneurs are both opportunity-driven and innovative. Moreover, we introduce economic development as a boundary condition of these relationships. Using a multi-level research design and analyzing data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) with 2,121,002 individuals from 101 countries, we find that regulatory efficiency and trade freedom positively affect AE. Surprisingly, government integrity negatively impacts AE, but higher economic development mitigates this negative relationship. Our study informs the discussion on the nexus between comparative international entrepreneurship, institutions, and economic development.

This study investigates the effects of being forced to work in a foreign language on individuals’ ability to be creative. Foreign language is expected to, respectively, hamper and strengthen individuals’ divergent and convergent thinking. However, because emotional responses to language differ, foreign language anxiety is expected to dampen these effects. Results from three experiments show that individuals with low foreign language anxiety have, on average, 58 % higher convergent thinking scores in the foreign language setting than those working in their native language. However, for highly anxious individuals, these scores become 49 % lower. The predictions for divergent thinking see weaker support. These results complement prior work investigating knowledge transfer and integration in response to foreign language use by focusing on processes related to knowledge generation. Moreover, by illustrating how individuals are differently affected by foreign language mandates, we contribute to the ongoing debate regarding whether language standardization is preferable to individualization.

This paper, based on the behavioral theory of the firm (BTOF), examines the influence of underperformance duration on a firm’s R&D internationalization in terms of both scale and scope. We propose that, under the time pressure stemming from prolonged underperformance, firms increase the scale of their R&D internationalization to expedite the benefits of overseas R&D activities through enhanced synergy and learning effects. Simultaneously, they narrow the geographic scope of foreign R&D efforts to reduce the complexity of coordinating dispersed R&D locations. Additionally, we investigate how the institutional contingencies in emerging economies moderate the time pressure mechanism. We posit that state ownership weakens the relationship between underperformance duration and R&D internationalization strategies (both in terms of scale and scope), whereas regional institutional development strengthens it. We use Heckman’s two-step estimation on a sample of 485 Chinese multinational firms from 2009 to 2018, and find support for our hypotheses.