TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical discussion of the scope and correct scale metrics used in the measurement of multinationality.Design/methodology/approach– There are two ways of measuring the degree of multinationality (sometimes called the international diversification) of firms. The literature is reviewed using both types of metric, and then both are applied to tests of the regional nature of international business.Findings– It is found that the correct method is to use a scale metric which captures the degree of multinationality, such as the ratio of foreign to total sales. This paper provides empirical evidence that the scope metric, which counts the number of countries in which a firm has a foreign subsidiary, is unsatisfactory.Originality/value– The paper provides a new scale metric of the intra‐regional activities of large US firms.
VL  - 19
IS  - 3
SN  - 1525-383X
DO  - 10.1108/15253831111172630
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/15253831111172630
AU  - Rugman Alan M.
AU  - Hoon Oh Chang
PY  - 2011
Y1  - 2011/01/01
TI  - Methodological issues in the measurement of multinationality of US firms
T2  - Multinational Business Review
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 202
EP  - 212
Y2  - 2024/09/19
ER  -