Why we should stop using the Kogut and Singh Index

The Kogut and Singh (J Int Bus Stud 19(3):411–432, 1988) index is the most widely used construct to measure cultural distance in international business and management research. We show that this index is incorrectly specified and captures the squared cultural distance. This inaccuracy is problematic because it means that the empirical findings on the effects of cultural distance presented in different strands of international business research are likely to be misleading. We specify the correct form of the distance measure based on the Euclidean distance formula and demonstrate the implications of using the incorrectly specified Kogut and Singh (1988) index

The role of language connectedness in reducing home bias in trade, investment, information, and people flows

This study introduces the concept of a country’s language connectedness (LC), namely, the extent to which the country is connected to the rest of the world in terms of the number of potential communicative partners. LC depends on the extent to which the country’s languages are spoken outside that country. Operationalizing and constructing an index capturing LC, I empirically show that a country’s LC is strongly associated with its globalization level. This effect is particularly strong in cross-border trade and investment and information flows. I also find that countries with languages belonging to large linguistic families (i.e., countries with greater linguistic connectedness) are more globalized. This study presents language barriers as a key contributor to home bias, that is, the tendency toward more within-border than cross-border interactions

Home institutional imprinting and lobbying expenditure of foreign firms: moderating effects of experience and technological intensity

The issue of whether a firm’s ‘home’ environment influences its nonmarket activities in a ‘host’ country is being increasingly discussed in the international business literature. In this paper, we use institutional and organisational imprinting theories to argue that multinational enterprises (MNEs) founded in countries with stronger regulatory institutions are likely to spend more on lobbying in a host country as compared to MNEs founded in countries with weaker regulatory institutions. We also argue that this effect is moderated by the MNE’s overall experience, its experience within the host country, and its technological intensity. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 378 foreign MNEs (among the largest 500) operating in the United States (U.S.), spanning the 8 year period 2006-2013, and representing 29 home countries. Our results support our hypothesis on the relationship between home-institutional imprinting and overseas lobbying expenditure, as described above. Our results also support our arguments that MNEs’ overall experience and technological intensity reduce the imprinting effect of home institutions on lobbying expenditure; however, our moderating effect of host-country experience on this relationship is not supported

Competition, Cooperation and Regulatory Intervention Impacts on Independent School Fees

This paper examines the factors determining fee levels set by independent schools, focusing on the impact of competition, cooperation and regulatory intervention in the sector. Results indicate that, once account is taken of factors such as the extent of local competition between independent schools, the impact of the 2003-2005 Office of Fair Trading investigation into the fee-setting cartel on independent school fees becomes insignificant. Meanwhile, the extent of competition between independent schools has a significant effect on levels of boarding school fees. Results highlight the importance of considering pricing strategies of groups within a cartel

Does language matter to foreign subsidiary performance?

Purpose This paper examines the role of language in foreign subsidiary performance. Design/methodology/approach We develop hypotheses relating to the effects of language difference and its interplay with cultural distance and market size. Considering languages that can be directly used and that can be acquired by MNEs, we employ language variables representing major languages and a population of 60 home and 57 host countries to study the performance of a sample of 1,751 subsidiaries between 2002 and 2013. Findings Language difference is found to have a negative impact on subsidiary performance. The positive effects of cultural distance on performance become stronger when the language difference is smaller. The language effects are also more pronounced in small markets. Practical implications This study reveals that subsidiary success depends on language difference, and such effects are more pronounced in small markets. The results also suggest that MNEs need to give more attention to bridging language barriers when they invest in culturally distant countries so that they can benefit from the positive effects of cultural distance. Originality/value Given that there is no systematic research investigating the role of language in the foreign subsidiary performance of MNEs, we make an important contribution by presenting a quantitative investigation of the language–performance relationship. The novelty of the paper also lies in examining the interplay of language difference with cultural distance and market size

Cultural bridging and the performance of international joint ventures

The existing predictions and findings regarding the effect of cultural distance on the performance of international joint ventures (IJVs) remain inconsistent. We suggest that this inconsistency is due to the lack of conceptually differentiating the cultural distance between the firm’s home country and its partner(s)’country (home-partner country cultural distance) from the cultural distance between the firm’s home country and the location of the IJV (home-host cultural distance). We contribute to our understanding of IJVs by explicitly differentiating these two types of cultural distance, and by introducing the concept of cultural bridging. Cultural bridging relates to the proportion of home-host cultural distance that is compensated by having a joint venture partner, whose home country culture is more similar to the host country culture than the MNE’s home country culture is to the host country culture. We theorize how cultural bridging affects IJV performance and how it interacts with home-partner country cultural distance and home-host cultural distance to influence IJV performance. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 1708 IJVs. We find that cultural bridging has a positive influence on IJV performance, strengthens the positive performance effect of home-host cultural distance, and reduces the negative performance effect of home-partner country cultural distance. Our findings help make sense of some of the inconsistent findings regarding the role that cultural distance plays for IJV performance

The internationalization of Nigerian firms: motivations and location patterns

Despite the increased number of studies of the internationalization of emerging‐market multinationals (EMNCs), Latin American and Asian firms have dominated the focus of such studies, while the study of the internationalization process of sub‐Saharan African firms in the international business literature is quite limited. Therefore, this article examines the motivations and location patterns of the internationalization process of four Nigerian firms through a multiple case study approach. The findings show that the internationalization of the Nigerian firms is a recent phenomenon, but the foreign investment pattern reflects a pan‐African investment strategy. However, the findings also reveal that the firm‐specific advantages that had been accumulated in the domestic market, coupled with home‐country factors and regional‐/host‐market factors, were key determinants of the motivations and location patterns in the internationalization process of Nigerian firms

Explaining alternative termination modes of international joint ventures

Purpose The authors combine options logic with transaction cost economics to explain why firms maintain, divest or buy out their international joint ventures (IJVs). It is suggested that a decline in environmental risk and higher partner-related risk makes a firm more likely to acquire an IJV but less likely to divest an IJV. The study also investigates how IJV age moderates the effects of a decline in environmental risk and higher partner-related risk. Design/methodology/approach The study employs competing risks analyses to examine the drivers of different termination outcomes using a dataset consisting of 459 IJVs in the People's Republic of China, of which 110 were either acquired or divested by their foreign parent. Findings The study finds that changes in environmental risk and partner-related risk affect how firms terminate their IJVs in the People's Republic of China. Specifically, the authors find that the effect of exogenous and endogenous risk are more pronounced for the acquisition of IJVs than for the divestment of IJVs. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to international marketing research by complementing options logic with transaction cost economics to provide a theoretical explanation of the different ways in which IJVs in the People's Republic of China are terminated. Practical implications IJVs continue to be an important yet often unstable method to serve international markets. Our findings increase managers' awareness of the effect that two important sources of risk may have on the termination of IJVs in the People's Republic of China. Originality/value The study provides novel insights into the effect that changes in exogenous and endogenous risk have on a firm's choice of termination mode drawing on novel data on the different ways in which foreign firms have terminated their IJVs in the Peoples' Republic of China

Digital sales channels and the relationship between product and international diversification: Evidence from going digital retail MNEs

We argue that in the era of e-commerce, retail firms can simultaneously grow their product and international portfolio by adopting a multichannel strategy, that is, using digital and physical channels. Drawing on the resource bundling perspective, we argue that the previously advocated negative relationship between product and international diversification is mitigated by the retail firm's digital sales intensity. By separately examining product and international diversification across digital and physical channels, we find that while increased product diversification in physical channels relates negatively with international diversification in both physical and digital channels, increased product diversification in digital channels relates positively with international diversification in both channels. Our hypotheses are tested against a sample of 122 born physical - going digital retail MNEs over the period 2006–2016

FDI and heterogeneity in bank efficiency: evidence from emerging markets

The inquiry into whether foreign firms are more productive than local firms has been one of the key research questions among international business scholars. We extend this line of research by addressing the heterogeneity among different performance measures. In this study, we examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on four internal measures of efficiency, i.e. overall technical, pure technical, scale and cost efficiencies, as well as an external measure of efficiency, i.e. revenue efficiency in the emerging markets banking sector. In contrast to previous studies that have perceived bank efficiency in a generic sense and have operationalized their efficiency measure with different measures of efficiency, we develop theoretical arguments to explain how the FDI-efficiency relationship can differ across these five types of efficiencies. We empirically test our hypotheses while accounting for endogeneity among efficiency, risk and capital under a three-stage least squares model. Our findings broadly suggest that foreign banks have an advantage in terms of overall technical efficiency and scale efficiency, but do not have an advantage in terms of pure technical efficiency, cost efficiency and revenue efficiency