Permanent versus Mobile Entry Decisions in International Construction Markets: Influence of Home Country– and Firm-Related Factors

Abstract

When entering a selected foreign market, the contractor must decide between permanent entry mode and mobile entry mode. By following theories and previous studies in international business, hypotheses were developed regarding the influences of several firm- and home country–related factors upon the selection between the two generic entry modes. These factors include home market attractiveness, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, firm size, and multinational experience. A binary logistic regression analysis was then performed, with results supporting most of the hypotheses. With other conditions held constant, contractors do not tend to determine entry mode under the influence of their long-term orientation but are more likely to use permanent entry than mobile entry when home market size is insignificant and uncertainty avoidance, firm size, or multinational experience is significant. The interaction effects of entry restriction by other factors were also explored. The findings can aid contractors when selecting or evaluating their entry modes for overseas construction markets.