Where Do Born Globals Come from? A Neoconfigurational Institutional Theory

2022 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Fainshmidt, Stav; Smith, Adam W.; Aguilera, Ruth V.

Abstract: Born globals, recently established firms that obtain a substantial share of thei ... Expand

Abstract: Born globals, recently established firms that obtain a substantial share of their revenue from foreign markets, can help strengthen countries’ economic vitality and increase innovation levels. The extent of born global formation varies considerably across countries, yet it is unclear why this is the case. Drawing on the neoconfigurational institutional perspective, we develop a typology of institutional contexts associated with high born global formation rates. We posit that high rates of born global formation occur where institutional features favorable to border-spanning activities complement institutional features conducive to entrepreneurial activity, thus forming an institutional configuration that enables, equips, and motivates more societal members to launch born globals. Accordingly, we hypothesize a primary institutional configuration where international transaction facilitators, entrepreneurial educational capital, and entrepreneurial norms combine to propel born global formation. Further, we draw on the internationalization literature to propose two alternative types of institutional configurations conducive to born global formation. These two types provide functional substitutes for the primary type and are distinctly propelled by (1) escapism from low-quality public governance institutions or (2) immigrant entrepreneurship. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on data from 66 countries supports our typology and illustrates why born global activity may thrive even in contexts with institutional weaknesses. Our study develops a neoconfigurational model to advance a holistic understanding of the born global phenomenon’s theoretical drivers, contributing to research on comparative capitalism and international entrepreneurship. Collapse

Topics: entrepreneurship financial information system accounting anonymity online learning system

Methods: theory development survey robustness check survey design statistical hypothesis test

Theories: institutional theory

Immigrants and Foreign Firm Performance

2020 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Hernandez, Exequiel; Kulchina, Elena

Abstract: Studies have demonstrated that foreign firms locate where immigrants from their ... Expand

Abstract: Studies have demonstrated that foreign firms locate where immigrants from their home countries reside and have suggested that doing so can improve performance. We argue that to properly assess how immigrants impact the performance of co-national firms, research must account for heterogeneity in how independent foreign firms (owned by individual foreigners) versus multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries (owned by a foreign corporate parent) benefit from immigrant communities. Independent firms have a greater need for resources from the immigrant community and depend more on their individual managers’ personal connections within the community to obtain such resources. Subsidiaries of MNCs can instead rely on the impersonal organizational resources of their parent firm (e.g., brand, reputation, channels) to access valuable immigrant community resources. Using data on foreign firms in Russia during 2006–2011, we find that immigrants improve the profitability of co-national independent firms only if they are managed by immigrant chief executive officers (CEOs), whereas co-national MNC subsidiaries profit from immigrants regardless of their CEOs’ nationality. Our study suggests that although organizations benefit from the resources of co-national immigrant communities in foreign markets, the means by which they activate them—personal or impersonal—systematically vary across different types of firms. Collapse

Topics: organizational productivity social capital research and development social network criminality

Methods: longitudinal research robustness check difference in differences survey experimental group