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Adam Smith’s theory of knowledge and international business theory and practice

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Abstract

This paper demonstrates that Adam Smith’s insights and reasoning can improve the theory of international business, and shed light on its academic practices. Smith was a system builder; his theory of knowledge underpinned his entire oeuvre, and understanding his systematic approach can help current international business to achieve a similarly coherent body of theory. Smith’s approach sheds direct light on decision-making in multinational enterprises, and on cultural distance (the “liability of foreignness”). Combining these two areas yields new Smithian insights into multinational enterprises from emerging countries.

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Notes

  1. This “again demonstrates Smith’s privileging empirical observation as a source, perhaps the source, of human knowledge” (Otteson, 2011: 30).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for International Business, Leeds University Business School, UK

    Peter J Buckley

  2. University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing, P.R. China

    Peter J Buckley

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  1. Peter J Buckley
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Accepted by John Cantwell, Editor-in-Chief, 22 July 2013. This paper has been with the author for two revisions.

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Buckley, P. Adam Smith’s theory of knowledge and international business theory and practice. J Int Bus Stud 45, 102–109 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2013.44

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2013.44

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