Abstract
Scholars' opinions diverge on the relationship between a firm's negative attainment discrepancy and its international expansion. To reconcile the dispute, we draw upon the behavioral theory of the firm and develop an empirical framework that integrates the perspectives of problemistic search, experiential learning, and vicarious learning. We contend that a firm's search behavior is jointly influenced by its performance feedback and accumulated (both direct and indirect) experience. Specifically, the international experience of the focal firm or its peers plays an important role in triggering the firm's internationalization process by shaping the direction of problemistic search: a firm is more likely to pursue international expansion as a solution for performance shortfalls if it (or its peers) possesses more general experience or successful experience in foreign markets. Analysis on longitudinal data (2011–2019) from publicly listed Chinese firms supports our hypotheses. This study makes theoretical contribution on firm internationalization literature and the behavioral theory of the firm, and provides a practical insight into firms' strategic decision-making process.
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Total 21 industrial categories (four-digit code): 4530 semiconductor and semiconductor production equipment, 1510 material II, 5010 telecommunication service II, 6010 real estate II, 5510 utility II, 4520 technology hardware and equipment, 3030 home and personal goods, 2550 retail, 2540 media II, 2520 consumer durable goods and apparel, 1010 energy II, 2510 automobile and auto part, 4510 software and service,2020 business and professional service, 3020 food, beverage and tobacco, 3010 food & staple retail II, 2530 consumer service II, 3510 healthcare device and service, 2030 transportation, 3520 pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life science, 2010 capital goods.
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Appendix 2
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Appendix 3
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Appendix 4
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Appendix 5
To define the similar-sized peers, we first ranked the firms in the same field by their size (total assets) in the year t. Then, we divided these firms into five equal parts by their size ranking, namely super-large, large, medium, small, and super-small size, rather than using specific threshold values. The advantage of this operation is that the heterogeneity of firm size across industries is taken into account. We finally calculated the average FGIE and FSIE of similar-sized peers (excluding focal firms) as a focal firm's PGIE and PSIE respectively (Table
10).
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Yang, Z., Zhou, Y. Beggars Cannot be Choosers? How Experiential and Vicarious Learning Direct Problemistic Search at Firm Internationalization. Manag Int Rev 63, 943–978 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-023-00515-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-023-00515-3