Happily (N)ever after: An empirical examination of the termination of IJVs across emerging versus developed markets

Abstract

Research on international joint ventures (IJVs) has paid increasing attention to the context of emerging markets (EMs). While the intersection of the IJV and EM research streams has grown, it has overlooked the effects of the partner firm home country and IJV host country context on the IJV outcome. In this study, we develop a typology of IJVs based on home and host countries as either developed or emerging markets to address this gap. Using a dataset of 24,011 IJVs in 48 countries between 1995 and 2017, we examine the impact of partners’ home countries, the IJV host country, and their interactions on the likelihood of IJV termination. Our findings reveal that beyond the frequently examined partner-, IJV-, and host country-related factors in prior research, the context of IJV partners’ home countries, the IJV host country, and their interactions significantly matter for IJV termination.