Home country institutional environments and foreign expansion of emerging market firms

We propose that home country institutional environment shapes emerging market firms’ foreign expansion. We argue that better-developed home country institutional environment promotes emerging market firms’ expansion to foreign markets more advanced than the home country, while institutional instability in the home country reduces this propensity. We further hypothesize that the effects of home country institutional environment are contingent on firm-specific government ownership. Data on the foreign expansion of 921 Chinese firms in the period of 1996–2000 provide strong support for the effects of home country's institutional development and institutional instability. We also find that a high degree of government ownership weakens the positive effect of home country's institutional development on emerging market firms’ propensity to expansion to more advanced markets.     

Capturing institutional home country conditions for exporting SMEs

In line with recent developments in institutional theory that indicate institutional settings can explain cross-national differences, this article proposes a measure of the institutional country profile relevant to exporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Combined emic and etic research approaches suggest a scale, derived through in-depth interviews with French and Romanian managers in SMEs and tested with 107 French export managers. The scale is psychometrically sound and supports a three-dimensional country institutional profile of exporting SMEs that comprises regulative, cognitive, and normative dimensions. The institutional profile of a country can complement, if not substitute for, culture as an explanation of export behavior. Furthermore, the proposed instrument can help researchers and managers diagnose countries' exporting strengths and weaknesses, according to their institutional conditions.     

The accelerating effect of institutional environment unfamiliarity on subsidiary portfolio expansion in a new host country

In forming external networks in a host country, a foreign subsidiary acquires knowledge which contributes to the parent’s stock of country-specific knowledge and capabilities. Building on this notion, we argue that an MNE unfamiliar with the institutional environment of a newly entered foreign country has an incentive to expand its subsidiary portfolio in that country at a higher rate. We test this using a longitudinal dataset of German public firms which made investments into 2220 new host countries between 1985 and 2015. We find that unfamiliarity accelerates subsidiary portfolio expansion most when the initial investment is a wholly-owned subsidiary, and that the effect becomes weaker over time. Our study contributes to the internationalization process literature by showing that being unfamiliar with a host country is not necessarily an obstacle to subsidiary portfolio expansion – indeed it can accelerate it.     

China goes global: public policies' influence on small- and medium-sized enterprises' international expansion

Despite small- and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) significant contribution to China's social and economic development, very little has been written about the influence that public policies (i.e. public funding priorities and regulatory measures) may have on the first stage of international expansion of Chinese SMEs. To help fill this gap, the article analyses five main factors related to public policies and services affecting Chinese SMEs' internationalization: access to public financial resources; participation of the government in ownership; access to public procurement contracts; adverse regulatory and inconsistent legal frameworks; and public assistance on information and knowledge about markets. The main conclusion is that SMEs appear to base their international expansion on private capabilities, rather than on support from the government; in addition, the perceived barriers for the international expansion of these firms may be mainly internal, rather than institutional.     

International standards certification,institutional voids and exports from developing country firms

This paper analyses the impact of International Standards Certification (ISC) on the export participation and the scale of exports of firms based in 89 developing or transition countries. We conceptualise ISC as an endogenous institutional advantage, which bridges institutional voids in the country and helps firms to export. The empirical results show that certified firms are more likely to export, and to export on a larger scale. The impact of ISC runs through two channels: productivity and transaction cost economies. We show that certification plays an important role in bringing down transaction costs in international markets, while also maintaining and raising efficiency. This finding is reinforced by additional evidence, suggesting that ISC matters more for the export participation of domestic firms than for foreign firms and is of greater importance for firms based in countries characterised by severe institutional voids.     

The international market selection of Chinese SMEs: How institutional influence overrides psychic distance

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the ongoing debate about whether psychic distance still plays a vital role in the internationalisation of SMEs from emerging markets. Drawing on the prior research which suggests the salient impact of institutional factors on internationalisation, we investigate the role of home country institutions in international market selection. Adopting a multi-case methodology, we collected semi-structured interview data from six small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in China. Our findings suggest that while psychic distance is still important in some circumstances, both formal institutions, such as government support, and informal institutions, such as business and political guanxi, enable Chinese SMEs to choose psychically distant markets. Our findings also indicate that informal institutions interact with formal institutions to further influence SMEs’ international market selection. This research contributes to SME internationalisation studies by revealing how formal and informal institutional factors override psychic distance in influencing international market selection.     

Frequency of international expansion through high control market expansion modes and interlocked directorships

This study investigates director interlock as a mechanism by which an MNC learns and adopts high control market expansion modes that other MNCs use. Using data on greenfields and acquisitions by S&P 500 firms in the period 2003–2010, we find a significant relationship between the use of high control market expansion modes by interlocked MNCs and the frequency of international expansion of a focal MNC through such modes in unrelated industries, with the relationship stronger for the depth of interlocked director experience. The findings contribute to the literatures around the frequency of international expansion and microfoundations of international strategy.     

Strategic agility of SMEs in emerging economies: Antecedents,consequences and boundary conditions

This study investigates the effects of firm-level capabilities, and their relationships with strategic agility and the international performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using time-lagged data from 233 internationalizing SMEs from Ghana, we test the direct relationships between SMEs’ capabilities and strategic agility. Additionally, we examine the indirect relationships between technological and networking capabilities and superior performance in international markets through the mediating mechanism of strategic agility. We also investigate the moderating effects of environmental dynamism and internationalization knowledge on the relationship between strategic agility and international performance. Our findings provide a nuanced view of the relationship between the firm-level capabilities, strategic agility and SMEs’ international performance.     

Firm resources,cultural distance and simultaneous international expansion in the retail sector

Despite the fact that many firms simultaneously expand into multiple new markets, we know very little about why firms choose this type of international expansion instead of sequentially entering new markets. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) we argue that in order to engage in simultaneous international expansion firms have to be able to draw on intangible assets, be financially strong, and have international experience that will enable them to reduce and/or shoulder the strains on managerial resources, time compression diseconomies and costs of simultaneously entering multiple new overseas markets. We further expect the strength of these associations to be moderated by the cultural distance between a firm’s home country and newly entered countries. Our analysis of the international expansion of the sales operations of 102 retailers over the period 2003–2012, during which these retailers sequentially or simultaneously entered into a total 836 overseas markets, largely supports our hypotheses. Our study underlines the usefulness of the RBV for understanding simultaneous international expansion as an important phenomenon that has received only scant scholarly attention to date.     

Networking responses to different levels of institutional void: A comparison of internationalizing SMEs in Egypt and the UK

This paper reports a comparative qualitative study of how decision-makers in internationalizing SMEs respond to relevant institutions in their domestic environment through networking activity. Twenty SMEs are compared respectively from a developing economy (Egypt) and a developed economy (UK). The two countries contrast both in the effectiveness of their institutional support for SMEs and in their cultural norms towards network relationships. Substantial differences are found between the two national samples in SME decision makers’ networking behaviour in response to specific institutional conditions. The links between institutional conditions, national cultural norms and SME networking responses are explicated in a new theoretical model.     

The expansion of branding in international marketing: The case of olive oil, 1870s–1930s

Abstract

Drawing on a variety of sources, this article investigates the emergence and expansion of branding in the international olive oil markets prior to World War II. It documents the rapid growth of the world trade in packaged olive oil from the 1870s onwards and shows that the main destinations of this consumer-ready product were in the Americas. In this respect, it complements previous findings based on the use of trademark registration figures. The article then argues that the expansion of canned and branded olive oil exports to the New World was the result of three interconnected factors: the mass migration of southern Europeans in the late nineteenth century and the formation of a new market on the other side of the Atlantic; significant transformations in the commodity chain of the product in the Americas during the first third of the twentieth century; and the problems of quality uncertainty and fraud in the emerging New World markets for olive oil. By analysing these factors, this study also provides evidence to further the debate on the purpose of branding and modern marketing.     

Strategic and institutional effects on foreign IPO performance: Examining the impact of country of origin,corporate governance,and host country effects

Integrating signaling and institutional perspectives, we develop and test hypotheses relating institutions and corporate governance to foreign IPO success. Our investigation highlights the importance of three important drivers of foreign IPO success: home country legal institutions, corporate governance, and host capital market choice. This research demonstrates that board independence and country of origin effects are powerful signals. However, these factors do not have a universal impact on foreign IPO success. Instead, the value of home country institutions along with corporate governance signals are contingent upon the institutional environment in which international entrepreneurs choose to seek capital resources.     

SMEs international growth: The moderating role of experience on entrepreneurial and learning orientations

New and small firms operating in the high-tech environments need strong entrepreneurial (EO) and learning (LO) orientations to enhance international growth. Yet, the relationship between these two key strategic dimensions and foreign growth can be contingent to the entrepreneur’s individual characteristics. Bringing together elements from strategic management, organization and entrepreneurship literatures, we employ a dynamic temporal perspective considering two levels of analysis, the firm and the entrepreneur, and we apply a fixed effects pooled time-series regression on a sample of 170 firms in two periods of time (2005 and 2015). Our findings indicate that SMEs that possess greater EO and LO have higher international growth. However, previous entrepreneurial and industry-specific managerial experience of the founder/CEO positively exert their effect on these relationships. Our results have important theoretical and practical implications for entrepreneurs and policy makers operating in highly innovative sectors.     

Market discovery and the international expansion of the firm

The objective of this paper is to formulate a theoretical framework for studies of antecedents and consequences of discoveries during international expansion. By introducing market discovery it seems to be possible to offer a richer understanding of the pattern and pace of the international expansion of a firm. Market discovery is the result of both exploration and exploitation activities, but in order to exploit market discovery, a firm must learn to handle the discovered opportunity. A discovery, usually made while a firm is conducting daily activities, occurs in connection with search, planning, routine, and improvisation. The resulting learning can lead to changes in pace, orientation, and extension of the international expansion of the firm.     

Global value chain linkages: An integrative review of the opportunities and challenges for SMEs in developing countries

This study reviews the literature on the challenges and opportunities of the global value chain (GVC) participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. A three-step approach to the literature review is used for synthesizing the relevant research works. In the end, we retain that SMEs are drivers of economic growth and despite the many challenges they face, the opportunity for developing country SMEs to benefit from their GVC linkages does exist, notably the high-quality information that they would otherwise not have access to. However there are necessary preconditions, resources and strategies that need to be put together to ensure the successful integration and growth (upgrading) of these SMEs within GVCs. The findings and proposed model contribute to enrich existing GVC research and offer a theoretical guide for possible practical measures to be adopted by SMEs and governments in developing countries.     

论我国商业银行国际保理业务的开展

我国的保理业务起步较晚。发展缓慢,并存在着法律、法规建设滞后,信用环境差,商业风险大．人才匮乏,风险集中等难点。应建立健全与国际保理业务有关的法律法规制度,建立我国的信用管理体系,积极培养国际保理业务所需要的高素质、结合型人才,以加速我国保理业务的发展。     

Escape FDI and the dynamics of a cumulative process of institutional misalignment and contestation: Stress,strain and failure

We argue that escape foreign direct investment (FDI) happens when unknown future “rules of the game” cause concern about the continued productive capacity of the economy. Adapting the stress-strain-fail model of materials failure, we argue that escape FDI is a process with three cumulative phases. Conditions for escape FDI (stress) are created by institutional deterioration and contained contestation. Limited escape FDI (strain) results from periods of societal instability and/or inadequate institutional reforms. Extensive escape FDI (failure) results from pervasive societal instability and/or fundamental changes in institutions. Using a historical approach, we develop these propositions for South Africa, 1956 to 2012.     

中小企业信用缺失的危害及对策研究

本文认为,信用是一个企业生存和发展的基础,也是市场经济的基石和灵魂,然而由于我国市场经济体制不够完善,失信现象经常发生,而交易双方信息不对称、征信体系不健全、企业信用的法律约束和保障机制乏力、信用中介服务落后、地方保护主义和部分官员政绩意识不正确是引起中小企业信用缺失的主要原因。信用缺失会给企业带来巨大的负面效应,破坏企业生存与发展的软环境,使企业运行处于无序状态。为加强中小企业信用体系建设,应建立和完善中小企业信用评估体系、信用担保体系、内部信用管理制度和信用监管制度,规范发展企业信用中介服务机构,从法律上加大对失信企业的惩罚力度。     

Effect of market orientation,network capability and entrepreneurial orientation on international performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

This study contributes to literature on the internationalization of SMEs by analysing the influence of International Market Orientation, Network Capability, and International Entrepreneurial Orientation on the International Performance of this kind of businesses. Particularly, both the direct effects of explanatory variables of International Performance and interdependence relations between them are analysed. Results obtained from a sample of 161 Mexican SMEs using SEM-PLS analysis show that the International Performance of this kind of businesses is favourably influenced by their Network Capability and International Entrepreneurial Orientation, but not by their International Market Orientation. Similarly, it is verified that interdependence relations exist among the explanatory variables of International Performance of SMEs, where positive impact of International Entrepreneurial Orientation is observed on Network Capability and the International Market Orientation of SMEs.