Antecedents and consequences of international joint venture partnerships: A social exchange perspective

Abstract

This paper assessed the antecedents and consequences of IJV partnerships on the basis of the social exchange paradigm. Based on the analysis of 94 joint ventures formed between Korean firms as a local partner and the US, European, and Japanese firms as a foreign partner, we ascertained the key structural and social components of trust–commitment partnerships and their contributions to IJV effectiveness. In addition, the trust–commitment partnerships were shown to be higher in joint ventures formed between Korean and Japanese companies than in those formed between Korean and Western (i.e. US, Europe) companies. This result raises the issue of a cultural influence on the IJV partnerships. Contrary to expectations, however, the competitive relationship between partners was shown not to exert a significant negative influence on both the trust–commitment partnerships and the effectiveness of IJVs. This result provides us with a meaningful implication to the selection of competitors as IJV partners.