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Dynamics of Experience, Environment and MNE Ownership Strategy

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Abstract

  • This study investigates the conditions under which environmental and firm-level factors affect MNE ownership strategy.

  • We theorize that these effects are related to changes over time, which we subdivide into the aspects of absolute and relative magnitude.

  • We develop and test four hypotheses using longitudinal data on Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI).

  • At the environmental level, the proliferation of FDI opportunities significantly increases the use of international joint ventures (IJVs).

  • At the firm level, increase in FDI experience has a significant positive effect on the use of IJVs.

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Notes

  1. For example, Chang and Rosenzweig (2001) found that a firm’s decisions for initial entry modes are different from subsequent entries.

  2. Only Greenfield and expansion FDIs were counted.

  3. NLFC is a Japanese government-owned financial institution, which is established under Japanese law. It provides various kinds of business loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). NLFC defines firms with less than twenty employees as Small-Scale Enterprises. Firms must have at least fifty employees to qualify as a SME (NLFC 2003).

  4. When we applied a two-year lag for the environmental variables, we found qualitatively similar results.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant (#411-98-0393).

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Correspondence to Jae C. Jung.

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Jung, J., Beamish, P. & Goerzen, A. Dynamics of Experience, Environment and MNE Ownership Strategy. Manag Int Rev 50, 267–296 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-010-0039-y

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