Emerging Economy Multinationals and Home Country Effects: Does Origin Matter?

Over the last decade emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) have become important players in the world economy. This has led to increased interest in their behavior by academics and policy makers alike who are beginning to come to grips with the most important analytical and policy issues that affect the world economy due to the rise of EMNCs. A lively debate in the literature is discussing the applicability of lessons from the study of developed country multinationals to EMNCs, and the contributions that the study of EMNCs can offer to theories of the multinational enterprise in general.

Studies from developed economy multinationals recognize that both firm-specific and environmental factors help explain international diversification. Over the last decade, increasing attention has been given to the drivers of internationalization strategies of firms from emerging economies and evidence on the relationship between EMNCs’ competitive advantages and the nature of their internationalization strategies is beginning to emerge. In this context, extant literature has focused on aspects of home country environments as potential determinants of EMNCs’ advantages and internationalization processes. Erramilli, Agarwal and Kim (1997) observed “that firm-specific advantages are molded by home-country environment has received some empirical scrutiny and support.” Yet, there remain significant unresolved questions in the international business and strategic management literatures as to how the home environment of a firm impacts its international strategies and operations. The substantial increase in outward foreign direct investment from countries such as China and India emphasizes the importance of this question.

The global economy is shifting in ways that offer new opportunities and new challenges for firms from emerging economies. These firms often originate from institutional environments which are heterogenic and segmented, have co-evolved their structures and practices within idiosyncratic institutional environments, and need to overcome differences between diverse institutional settings in their foreign direct investments. These challenges are often compounded by limited organizational and managerial experience and capabilities to internationalize.

We believe that there are significant opportunities for improving our understanding of how home country environment affects various processes and outcomes that drive EMNCs, and thus to advance theories of the multinational enterprise. Consequently, we are soliciting empirical and theoretical work addressing these complex relationships between various forms of home country environmental heterogeneities and EMNCs. This special issue provides an opportunity to bring together the research of scholars from a diverse range of disciplinary traditions such as economics, sociology and political science. As such, the following list of potential research questions is merely illustrative of the broad range of studies that could fit in the special issue of Asia Pacific Journal of Management (APJM):

• How do EMNCs leverage political and social ties at home to gain access to and/or leadership in foreign markets, especially developed country markets?
• How do the institutional framework and the resource endowment of the home country influence the patterns and processes of organizational learning and capability building that enable investments abroad?
• From a co-evolutionary perspective, what are the dynamics of the interrelationship between institutional change and corporate strategy? How do EMNCs leverage their experience abroad to impact institutional development at home?
• What is the extent and modalities through which emerging market governments influence the operations of EMNCs?
• What distinguishes international investment strategies by state-owned by privately-owned EMNCs? Is government ownership enabler or liability in internationalization?
• What role do country of origin formal (regulatory) and informal (cultural) institutions play in pace of internationalization and degree of international commitments?
• How do governance structures, such as ownership and managerial incentives, affect internationalization decisions and the success or failure of overseas operations?

All papers are to be submitted to the APJM website http://apjm.edmgr.com. The deadline for receipt of papers for this special issue is December 1, 2013. The format of submissions must comply with submission guidelines posted at the APJM website, and we have a marked preference for submissions which debate with, extend, and/or refute the indicative literature cited below. Please indicate that your submission is to be reviewed for the Special Issue on Emerging Economy Multinationals (choose that in the “article type” item during the submission process).

Papers will be double-blind peer-reviewed. We will make initial editorial decisions by June, 2014. Authors invited to revise and resubmit their work will be invited to present the papers at the APJM special issue workshop to be held at the conference on “Emerging Economy Multinationals” at Copenhagen Business School in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The papers accepted and presented at the workshop will be considered for publication in a special issue of the APJM. Presentation at the workshop does not necessarily guarantee publication in the special issue. The combination of a workshop and a special issue nevertheless follows a highly successful APJM initiative to bring out the full potential of authors and papers. For questions about the special issue, please contact Bersant Hobdari, Guest Editor, at bh.int@cbs.dk.
 
Indicative Contemporary Literature

Bhaumik, S.K., Driffield, N. & Pal, S., 2010. Does ownership structure of emerging market firms affect their outward FDI? The case of the Indian automotive and pharmaceutical sectors, Journal of International Business Studies, 41: 437-450.
Boisot, M. & Meyer, W. 2008. Which way through the open door? Reflections on the internationalization of Chinese firms, Management and Organization Review 4(3): 349-366.
Buckley P.J., Clegg J., Cross A., Rhodes, H., Voss H. & Zheng, P. 2008. Explaining China's outward FDI: an institutional perspective', in: Sauvant, K. ed., The rise of transnational corporations from emerging markets, Cheltenham: Elgar.
Chen Y.Y. & Young, M.N. 2010. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions by Chinese listed companies: A principal–principal perspective, Asia Pacific Journal of Management 27(3): 523-539.
Cui, L. & Jiang, F. 2012. State ownership effect on firms’ FDI opwnership decisions under institutional pressure: A study of Chinese outward-investing firms, Journal of International Business Studies, online advance.
Dunning, J.H., 2006. Comment on ‘dragon multinationals: New players in 21st century globalization’, Asia Pacific Journal of Management 23, 139-142.
Erramilli, M. K., Agarwal S. & Kim S. 1997. Are Firm-Specific Advantages Location-Specific Too, Journal of International Business Studies 28(4), 735-757.
Filatotchev, I., Strange, R., Piesee, J. & Lien, Y.C. 2007. FDI by firms from newly industrialized economies in
emerging markets: Corporate governance, entry mode and location, Journal of International Business Studies, 38(4): 556-502.
Gammeltoft, P. 2008. Emerging multinationals: Outward FDI from the BRICS countries, International Journal of Technology and Globalisation, 4(1): 5-22.
Gubbi, S.R. Aulakh, P., Ray, S., Sarkar, M.B. & Chitoor, R. 2010. Do international acquisitions by emerging-economy firms create shareholder value? The case of Indian firms, Journal of International Business Studies 41, 397–418.
Jormanainen, I. & Koveshnikov, A. 2012. International activities if emerging market firms: A critical assessment of research in top management journals, Management International Review, advance online.
Lin, W.-T., & Cheng, K.-Y. 2012. The effect of upper echelons’ compensation on firm internationalization. Asia Pacific Journal of Management. doi:10.1007/s10490-011-9261-9.
Luo Y.D., Xue Q. & Han B. 2010. How emerging market governments promote outward FDI: Experience from China. Journal of World Business 45(1): 68-79.
Mathews, J. A. 2006. Dragon multinationals: New players in 21st century globalization. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23: 5-27.
Meyer, K.E. & Thaijongrak, O. 2013. The dynamics of emerging economy MNEs: How the internationalization process model can guide future research, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, in press.
Morck R., Yeung B. & Zhao M. 2008. Perspectives on China's outward foreign direct investment. Journal of International Business Studies 39(3): 337-350.
Ramamurti, R. 2012. What is really different about emerging market multinationals? Global Strategy Journal 2(1): 41-47.
Tan, D. & Meyer, K.E. 2010. Business groups’ outward FDI: A managerial resources perspective, Journal of International Management, 16(2): 154-164.
Yang, H., Sun, S. L., Lin, Z., & Peng, M. W. 2011. Behind M&As in China and the United States: Networks, learning, and institutions. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 28(2): 239-255.