Export propensity and intensity of subsidiaries in emerging economies

Abstract

We extend the theory of the multinational enterprise and the institutional perspective of strategy by exploring subsidiary-specific advantages as a driver of subsidiary exports. We distinguish between the factors influencing whether or not subsidiaries are exporting (export propensity) and those determining the share of sales that are exported (export intensity). The former are argued to be largely associated with the relative resource position of the subsidiary and the latter primarily with the character of the host institutional environment.We provide empirical support for these arguments through a Heckman two-stage selection model estimation using a unique primary dataset of foreign owned affiliates in Hungary, Poland, India and South Africa, Egypt and Vietnam. In particular, the quality of the host institutional environment does not affect export propensity which depends on subsidiary specific advantages in terms of geographic location, acquired resources and small scale of the parent MNE. However, export intensity is lower where the institutional environment has a higher level of economic freedom.

An exploratory study of international opportunity identification among family firms

“…The selection of different countries provides a high degree of variation in the international opportunity identification behaviour of these firms (Estrin, Meyer, Wright, & Foliano, 2008). Emerging economies were selected as there is less research investigating international opportunity identification by family SMEs in these countries, and further research exploring potential differences between family firms from these and other countries has been suggested (Kontinen & Ojala, 2010).…”

Redes, inovação e desempenho exportador: uma abordagem institucional

“…Tais resultados foram encontrados em outros estudos (Alvarez, 2004;Klotzle & Thomé, 2006;Ling-Yee & Ogunmokum, 2001) que destacaram o papel da promoção comercial e políticas públicas e de incentivos sobre o desempenho exportador de empresas no país de origem, ou das condições de liberdade econômica e redução das barreiras tarifárias no caso dos países de destino (Carneiro et al, 2011;Estrin, Meyer, Wright, & Foliano, 2008).…”

Theoretical Foundations

“…Research focus thus has moved to the development, coordination, and exploitation of resources in different units of the MNE (Chang, Gong, & Peng, 2012). This includes topics such as increases of resource commitments over time (Johanson & Johanson, 2006;Santangelo & Meyer, 2011), competitive dynamics (Chang & Park, 2012;Narayanan & Fahey, 2005), headquarters-subsidiary relationships (de Jong et al, 2015;Jindra, Giroud, & Scott-Kennel, 2009), and subsidiary exports (Estrin, Meyer, Wright, & Foliano, 2008;Filatotchev, Stephan, & Jindra, 2008;Filatotchev, Liu, Buck, & Wright, 2009). Other scholars investigate internal processes in MNE subsidiaries, such as human resource management practices (Bjö rkman, Fey, & Park, 2007) and organizational culture (Caprar, 2011;Taylor et al, 2008;Welch & Welch, 2006).…”