Governors' pro-market ideology as institutional enablement of firm internationalization
Cross Cultural & Strategic Management
ISSN: 2059-5794
Article publication date: 23 July 2021
Issue publication date: 6 September 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Extant literature has indicated that government support is one of the main drivers of international expansion of Chinese multinational enterprises. However, research on the influence of governors on firm internationalization is still limited. Drawing upon the institution-based view, we theorize a novel concept of institutional enablement to illustrate the influence of a governor's pro-market ideology on Chinese firms' internationalization.
Design/methodology/approach
We analyze the relationship between a governor's pro-market ideology (consisting of a pro-market political ideology, an overseas educational background and a business background) and firm internationalization with a sample of Chinese public companies during 2014–2017.
Findings
We find a direct and positive effect of a governor's pro-market ideology on firm internationalization. We also find an indirect and positive effect of a governor's pro-market ideology through regional, inward foreign direct investment.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to investigate an underexplored question of the impact of governors on firm internationalization and to develop a novel concept of institutional enablement, based on discursive institutionalism.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the journal editor, professor Chinmay Pattnaik, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. The authors appreciate Ruicheng Wang’s generous help in data collection.
Citation
Zhou, W.C. and Sun, S.L. (2021), "Governors' pro-market ideology as institutional enablement of firm internationalization", Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 894-917. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM-09-2020-0182
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited