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Institutional effects on family business internationalization: a systematic review

Abstract Family firms play a vital role in the global business landscape, significantly impacting their home countries GDP. These firms diverge from non-family counterparts in their internationalization strategies, yet they stand to gain substantial benefits from international expansion. Beyond economic considerations, family resources and values introduce non-economic factors that challenge traditional economic theories. This study leverages an institutional approach to illuminate the multifaceted influences shaping family firms’ internationalization, encompassing positive and adverse dynamics. The integration of institutional theory marks a recent shift in understanding family firm internationalization, encompassing institutional and economic geography perspectives. To foster discourse and guide future research, this paper systematically reviews peer-reviewed articles covering over a decade, from 2010 to 2023. It identifies formal and informal institutional elements, alongside economic geography factors, that either facilitate or impede family firms’ internationalization. This review underscores existing knowledge gaps at the nexus of institutional theory, economic geography, internationalization, and family business studies. Notably, the systematic literature review uncovered a limited corpus of only 41 articles, indicating the need for more research exploring the synergy between economic geography and institutional factors in the context of diverse internationalization strategies. Furthermore, the review highlights the underexplored terrain within social institutions and economic geography, revealing a notable gap in the extant research.

Foreign shareholding and corporate environmental expenditure: Evidence from China

AbstractThis paper estimates the effects of foreign investments on the environmental expenditure of listed companies in China by differentiating pre‐IPO foreign investors from post‐IPO foreign investors. Our findings indicate that while pre‐IPO foreign investments make significant and positive contributions, the influence of post‐IPO foreign investments is negligible. These results are particularly pronounced for enterprises that are privately owned, located in coastal China, operating in heavily polluting industries, and whose management lacks prior experience in environmental protection and international vision. Furthermore, research efforts are devoted to uncovering potential channels through which pre‐IPO foreign investments affect corporate environmental expenditure, including environmental regulations in home countries or regions, government attention to environmental issues, media coverage, and corporate financial constraints.

Do Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions by Emerging Market Enterprises Enhance Long-Term Productivity? The Host Country Market Size Effect Moderated by Technological Absorption Efforts

The purpose of this study was to establish a spatial structural framework to explore how cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in emerging markets can enhance long-term productivity and select the appropriate host country market structures. Utilizing cross-border M&A data from Chinese companies from 2008 to 2016, we developed a moderated U-shaped mediation model. Employing Two-Stage Least Squares and the Generalized Method of Moments for endogeneity analysis, we offer robust empirical insights. Our findings illustrate that enterprise productivity progression from cross-border M&As is significantly influenced by a U-shaped mediation of the host country’s market size effect, which is further moderated by the technological distance between the home and host countries. A high technological distance intensifies the U-shaped mediation of market size effects on enterprise productivity, while low technological distances result in an inverted U-shaped curve, indicating that such markets may boost short-term productivity but limit long-term growth. Conversely, larger markets with greater technological distances better support sustained productivity increases, even requiring persistent technological absorption efforts. This study underscores the necessity of selecting appropriate host country market structures and effectively managing the acquisition timeline to positively impact both short- and long-term productivity. By conceptualizing firm-level technological absorption efforts as the technological gap between the home and host countries, this study highlights the crucial moderating role that the technological gap plays in influencing long-term productivity at the macro level, providing new insights into the economic geographic strategic decisions and spatial planning for emerging market enterprises in cross-border acquisitions.

Changing Role of HR Manager in Global Market Place

Abstract: Research on "Management of Expatriates" is in its early stages. The challenge of preparing expatriate managers to serve as a bridge between parent and subsidiary firms and to thrive in different cultural contexts has emerged as an extra consequence of globalisation for many organisations. Hiring people from all over the world adds another layer of complexity to company cultures. There is a vast array of ethnicities, languages, and cultures represented among these people. Managers tasked with managing teams abroad should receive training to help them navigate cultural differences. An "expat" can be a manager from one nation whose home country's parent company sends them to live and work in another country. Proper training is vital if the expatriates are to succeed in their new surroundings and contribute to the organization's objectives. When employees participate in effective expatriate training courses, they may be better able to handle the challenges and stresses of cultural adaptation. Before, during, and after an assignment, participants get cultural training on subjects such home culture work and living in a host country. It could be more crucial to adjust to a different culture than to completely embrace it. The value of expat assignments is well-known by every prosperous business. By sending employees to work in other countries, a parent firm may help its subsidiaries run more smoothly. When travelling, a person's mindset and behaviour may diverge significantly from their home country. A company runs the risk of creating costly and unsolvable issues if it just talks to locals. By placing an expat onsite, cultural friction can be reduced. also, there are locations on every continent. Quality and safety standards may differ substantially from one country to another. Businesses may respond to client problems more quickly and individually when they hire personnel from different nations. While working overseas, an expat would have absorbed the values and norms of their home firm. Companies now value Expatiate Management. Management and training are two of the main reasons why expats fail.

Accelerate or delay? Big step internationalization and the speed of subsequent foreign expansion—evidence from Chinese MNEs

Purpose In recent decades, emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) have predominantly adopted a big step internationalization strategy to expand their business overseas. This study aims to examine the effect of big step internationalization on the speed of subsequent foreign direct investment (FDI) expansion for EMNEs. The authors also investigate the potential boundary conditions. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the random effects generalized least squares (GLS) regression following a hierarchical approach to analyze the panel data set conducted by a sample of publicly listed Chinese firms from 2001 to 2012. Findings The findings indicate that implementing big step internationalization in the initial stages accelerates the speed of subsequent FDI expansion. Notably, the authors find that this effect is more pronounced for firms that opt for acquisitions as the entry mode in their first big step internationalization and possess a board of directors with strong political connections to their home country’s government. In contrast, the board of director’s international experience negatively moderates this effect. Practical implications This study provides insights into our scholarly and practical understanding of EMNEs’ big step internationalization and subsequent FDI expansion speed, which offers important implications for firms’ decision-makers and policymakers. Originality/value This study extends the internationalization theory, broadens the international business literature on the consequences of big step internationalization and deepens the theoretical and practical understanding of foreign expansion strategies in EMNEs.

Passport to transformation: Assessing transformative learning in overseas students through travel experiences

This research note advances prior studies by thoroughly examining transformative learning in overseas students. Employing an embedded mixed-method approach that incorporates pilot interviews and graphic elicitation based on King's (2009) Learning Activities Survey, we examined 339 transformed respondents and 8 graphic elicitation interviewees. The results highlight the transformative power of experiences outside the classroom, revealing that travel has a more significant impact on students' transformation than academic learning upon their return to their home country. Moreover, our findings indicate that travel frequency and reflection significantly contribute to students' transformation, while factors such as travel companion, pre-language level, length of stay, and time elapsed since return showed no significant impacts on transformation through travel. These insights offer valuable guidance for practitioners, encouraging the integration of travel as a vehicle for transformative learning in educational programmes and products.

Leveraging natural language processing techniques to explore the potential impact of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

Debates on controversial policies often stimulate extensive discourse, which is difficult to interpret objectively. Political science scholars have begun to use new textual data analysis tools to illuminate policy debates, yet these techniques have been little leveraged in the international business literature. We use a combination of natural language processing, network analysis and trade data to shed light on a high-profile policy debate—the EU’s recently enacted Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). We leverage these novel techniques to analyze business inputs to the EU’s public consultation, differentiating between different types of organizations (companies, trade associations, non-EU actors) and nature of impact (direct, indirect, potential). Although there are similarities in key concerns, there are also differences, both across sectors and between collective and individual actors. Key findings include the fact that collective actors and indirectly affected sectors tended to be less concerned about the negative impacts of the new measure on international relations than individual firms and those directly affected. Firms’ home country also impacted on their positions, with EU-headquartered and foreign-owned companies clustering separately. Our research highlights the potential of natural language processing techniques to help better understand the positions of business in contentious debates and inform policy making.

Exploring host and home country effects on industrial relations in Chinese multinational enterprises – Evidence from Ireland

This paper explores the industrial relations (IR) experiences of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNE) in Ireland, with particular focus on the impact of host and home country institutions on IR policies and practices. The study adopted a qualitative methodology of semi-structured interviews with managerial respondents from eight Chinese MNEs located in Ireland and personnel in other relevant public and private organisations. Our results indicate that host country IR institutions (e.g. trade unions, employment legislation and government support) largely explain the IR practices of Chinese MNEs in Ireland. This study also identifies home country effects mostly relating to a hierarchical managerial approach and the development of a culture of harmony and collaboration. Finally, our results also call attention to some emerging ‘convergence’ and ‘divergence’ between Chinese MNEs and other MNEs in Ireland in terms of their IR experiences and responses.

The Manufacturing Reshoring Phenomenon: A Policy-Oriented Analysis of Factors Driving the Location Decision

For several decades, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have offshored their manufacturing activities to low-cost countries to achieve significant productivity gains. However, changes in the relative competitiveness of countries, social effects of deindustrialization in advanced economies and the vulnerability of global value chains (GVCs) revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic have encouraged some firms, supported by governments, to “reshore” part, or all of their offshore industrial operations back to their home country. Reshoring decisions are motivated by a variety of endogenous and exogenous factors that are empirically analyzed in this paper to understand how reshoring policies implemented by governments can more effectively address the factors driving the firms’ location decisions. A review of the reshoring policies implemented in Europe, the UK and the US is conducted to provide general policy recommendations regarding policy instruments, SMEs, innovation and regionalization of value chains. This paper fills a gap in the literature by connecting the micro-level supply chain management analysis of firms’ reshoring drivers with the macro-level economic policy perspective on reshoring. The review of existing reshoring policies calls for an in-depth analysis by the manufacturing sector and at the local level.

Exploring Student Agency in Narratives of English Literacy Events across School Subjects

In contemporary academia, English-language reading assignments are prevalent, even in contexts where English is not the primary medium of instruction nor the local language. This presents a challenge for students with English as a foreign language (EFL) who seek to pursue a university education in their home country. This study investigates the presence of English literacy events in Swedish upper secondary schools outside of English classes and explores their implications for university readiness and educational equity. Using survey data from 163 EFL students and qualitative content analysis, students’ written comments revealed a notable absence of English literacy events in non-English subjects, with limited exposure to written English texts and occasional use of multimodal English activities. The findings underscore disparities in students’ opportunities to engage with academic English literacy practices, primarily influenced by individual factors. This paper delves into the interplay between individual dimensions, and institutional and social practices, in shaping student agency in English academic literacy practices.

Tax Complexity and Firm Tax Evasion: A Cross-Country Investigation

This paper endeavours to investigate whether a complex tax system influences firms’ propensity toward tax evasion across countries. To achieve the objectives of this study, we utilised the World Bank Enterprise Survey and the World Bank’s Doing Business databases covering more than 46,000 companies from 83 countries. Our study revealed that the increased time required to pay taxes and higher total tax payments were associated with a greater extent and incidence of tax evasion among firms. The consistency of these benchmark regression results was proven through endogeneity analysis and several robustness tests. Furthermore, our heterogeneity analyses showed that the effect of tax complexity on firm tax evasion was more prominent in low- and lower-middle-income countries and also in the primary industry. These findings offer promising evidence for policymakers, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income countries where the majority of companies operate in the primary industry. Addressing the complexity of the tax system could potentially mitigate the adverse impact on tax evasion levels in these countries. Furthermore, our spatial analysis provides valuable insights, emphasising the potential impact of tax complexity in neighbouring countries and underscoring the necessity for policymakers in the home countries to strategise on harmonising and streamlining their tax systems.

Understanding of Psychological Literacy: Comparative Insights From Undergraduates in China and the United Kingdom

Background Psychological literacy has attracted considerable attention globally. However, no study has focused on this concept in China, where interest in psychology is growing. Objective The present study aimed to investigate perceptions of psychological literacy in a sample of undergraduate psychology majors from Chinese public universities, and compare findings with previously reported data from the United Kingdom. Method Participants completed a survey in which they rated eight core attributes of psychological literacy across the dimensions of awareness, development, confidence in explaining, and importance in their future career. Results Students gave the highest ratings to the importance of psychological core attributes in their future careers and understanding the application of theory, but the lowest to the development of attributes and understanding the role of theory in research. Comparisons with the United Kingdom sample revealed culturally specific differences of potential interest. Conclusions Findings from this work can inform the refinement of undergraduate psychology programs in China, and help calibrate standards in support of international mobility of Chinese students for postgraduate study outside of the home country. Teaching implications Psychology educators in China should consider providing more opportunities for students to gain awareness of their own development and engage in research firsthand.

The Influence of Market Entry Strategies on the Success of Digital Service Innovations in the Mobility Sector

The phenomenon of servitization paired with digitalization has resulted in an emerging research stream referred to as digital service innovation (DSI). DSI has attracted much interest in academia and industry, given its increasing economic importance. However, extant innovation research still exhibits a strong product innovation focus and limited attention to the end of the innovation process, especially the determinants of innovation success. We investigate the role of market entry strategies for DSI success in digital service and platform settings. Drawing on a novel sample of 325 DSIs in the mobility sector, we examine the role of three types of market entry strategies, that is, market entry order, brand extensions, and home country advantage on the success of the DSI. The results indicate that early market entry and individual brands rather than extensions of existing brands are relevant determinants of DSI success, and that this impact depends on the level of business model innovativeness and competitive intensity. By examining the uniqueness of market entry strategies for DSI success, this paper adds novel insights for DSI and their success factors to the digital and service innovation literature. In doing so, we also suggest essential strategies that help practitioners advance DSI performance.

Exilio, experiencias transnacionales, retorno y diásporas: itinerarios del Cono Sur

This article analyzes the experience of mass exile during the last wave of dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay and, in particular, the process of partial return to the countries of origin. In the face of the dramatic institutional breakdown that affected each of these societies under dictatorships in different ways and to varying degrees, the text addresses the limits, difficulties, and shortcomings that ex-exiles encountered upon their return, the impact of the returnees on their respective national scenarios, and how the transnational experience of those who suffered such territorial displacement shaped their impact on the institutions of origin, politics, and national culture upon their return to their home countries. Finally, the article shows how the countries of origin have approached and interacted with the ongoing diasporas of nationals abroad, particularly with the diaspora of academics and professionals.

Shaping patient perceptions with healthcare supply chain transparency

AbstractHealthcare professionals continually face pressure for increased transparency in their supply chains (SCs). This research examines how healthcare SC information disclosures and physician operations influence patient perceptions (i.e., satisfaction with physicians and attitude toward healthcare service providers). Evidence from prior research might not be applicable in the healthcare context because of intense regulations and safety concerns. Moreover, previous studies have mostly adopted an internal, operational perspective. By contrast, we provide healthcare professionals with guidance on how to maximize patient perceptions. Anchoring on signaling theory and construal level theory of psychological distance, we examine whether and how the disclosed information in a healthcare context influences patients' perceptions with two vignette‐based studies. In contrast with literature on SC transparency, we do not find a main effect of SC disclosures in healthcare. Instead, the effects depend on the content disclosed. We find that spatial and temporal distances of the healthcare SC significantly influence patients' perceptions. Furthermore, a three‐way interaction shows that by strategically disclosing manufacturing and distribution information, especially when these occur close to the patient's home country, and incorporating service recovery actions, such as closer follow‐ups, professionals can maximize patient perception outcomes.

Does policy uncertainty travel across borders? Evidence from MNC subsidiary investment decisions

Using a large-scale proprietary data set from China, we examine the cross-border transmission of policy uncertainty within multinational corporations (MNCs). Our results show that policy uncertainty in MNCs’ home countries negatively affects the capital investment of their foreign subsidiaries. Our analyses of cross-sectional heterogeneity reveal that the effect is strengthened by subsidiary-level investment irreversibility and the dependence of subsidiaries on parent firms, and weakened by bilateral meetings and psychic closeness between the home and host countries. Together these findings suggest that policy uncertainty travels across borders and has a spillover effect on foreign subsidiary investment.

EXPRESS: Optimizing Production Relocation Timing Decisions

In a globalized economy, companies face a range of challenges and opportunities related to relocating production activities to a new country. Relocation can yield significant cost savings and other benefits, but there are also risks including potential damage to the brand image. Thus, firms need to carefully evaluate when to relocate and when to stop production in a particular location. We formulate an optimal control model and derive analytical as well as numerical results to provide insights into the optimal relocation timing and production stoppage decisions. We show that factors like higher relocation cost, higher production costs in the relocation country but high brand image in the country of origin, can postpone production relocation. Competitive effects alter relocation timing, particularly when the firm faces direct competition and asymmetric negative cross-image spillover effects with the rival brand in the home or relocation country. The paper discusses illustrative examples and derives implications for the timing of relocation and the duration of production in the relocation country.

Transnational Voices in Academia

In this paper, two transnational doctoral students and language educators of color engage in a reflexive dialogic conversation focusing on intersectional aspects of their identities and positionalities. Utilizing duoethnography research methodology, they explored their academic and professional journeys in post-secondary education both in their home countries and in an Anglophone context. A discussion on the negotiation of their positionalities in their immediate academic, professional, and sociocultural contexts is provided. We argue that unveiling one’s positionality requires a prolonged reflexive engagement that assists in establishing quality in qualitative research as well as exploring fluidity in positionality. We close with implications and invitations to use duoethnography as a path to self-exploration, solidarity, and allyship. 

Rent or Buy? Inflation Experiences and Homeownership within and across Countries

ABSTRACTWe show that past inflation experiences strongly predict homeownership within and across countries. First, we collect novel survey data, which reveal inflation protection to be a key motivation for homeownership, especially after high inflation experiences. Second, using household data from 22 European countries, we find that higher exposure to historical inflation predicts higher homeownership rates. We estimate similar associations among immigrants to the United States who experienced different past inflation in their home countries but face the same U.S. housing market. Consistent with the experience effects model, the relationship is strongest in countries with predominantly fixed‐rate mortgages.

Environmental regulation, outward foreign direct investment, and China’s green total factor productivity

AbstractIncreasing green total factor productivity (GTFP) is currently the primary goal of sustainable development worldwide. GTFP not only reflects the efficiency of economic expansion but also encompasses resource consumption and pollution. This research enhances the current understanding of GTFP by indicating that aside from reverse technology spillovers, labor mobility, and changes in industrial structure, additional factors, such as environmental regulations, exert a dynamic function in shaping the influence of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on the GTFP of the home nation. The empirical findings indicate that OFDI has a single threshold effect on GTFP, and the negative effect increases with the reinforcing of environmental control. The main impact comes from home country’s changes in green technology (GTC) rather than changes in green efficiency. Additionally, environmental regulation has a positive moderating effect on OFDI, the moderating effect of environmental regulation in western regions is more pronounced in promoting the home country’s GTC. It is imperative to take into account regional variations and devise distinct policies for eastern, central, and western regions.