Entry mode choice in China's regional distribution markets: Institution vs. transaction costs perspectives |
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Authors: | Yung-Ray Chen [Author Vitae] Chyan Yang [Author Vitae] Sue-Ming Hsu [Author Vitae] Yau-De Wang [Author Vitae] |
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Institution: | a Department of Management Science, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsueh Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC b Institute of Business and Management, National Chiao Tung University, 118, Section 1, Chung Xiao West Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan, ROC c Department of Business Administration, Tunghai University, 181, Section 3, Taichung Harbor Road, Situn District, Taichung 407, Taiwan, ROC d Department of Management Science, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsueh Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC |
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Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the entry mode choice of a leading Taiwanese food company in setting up regional distributors in China's 312 sales districts. Our study shows that, in entry mode decisions, the institutional factors are more important than transaction cost considerations. Both formal and informal institutions are considered. Formal institutions refer to government prescribed institutions (laws and regulations), while informal institutions refer to rules prescribed by the industry and the society. Both institutions are shown to affect the entry mode choices but one important type of institution, professional norms, is conspicuously missing in China. Professional norms exert peer pressures on the practitioners in the same profession, forcing their behaviors to conform to a common pattern. In the absence of professional norms, the roles of network ties and mimetic behaviors are heightened and they become a proxy for professional norms. As a foreign enterprise operating in China's local markets, the Taiwanese food company attained legitimacy by forming alliances with local wholesalers and by following its predecessors in selecting organization forms. |
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Keywords: | Entry mode choice China Institutions Transaction cost approach Network relations Mimetic behaviors |
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