Replacing Traditional Economics with Behavioral Assumptions in Constructing the Uppsala Model: Toward a Theory on the Evolution of the Multinational Business Enterprise (MBE)
Multidisciplinary Insights from New AIB Fellows
ISBN: 978-1-78441-039-1, eISBN: 978-1-78441-038-4
Publication date: 11 August 2014
Abstract
In this paper we describe the evolution of the Uppsala model, which we see as a gradual substitution of economics-type assumptions with ones derived from the behavioral theory of the firm and from empirical studies of international firm behavior. We rely upon them to introduce a new version of the Uppsala model. To decrease the traditional focus on the activity of manufacturing and increase attention to the entrepreneurial and exchange activities of international companies, we renamed these firms “multinational business enterprises” (MBEs). We end with a plea to improve the relevance of empirical research in the international-business (IB) area by not only relying upon realistic assumptions but also performing longitudinal studies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgment
We wish to thank Jean J. Boddewyn, Daniel Van Den Bulcke and Yair Aharoni for their highly helpful comments.
Citation
Vahlne, J.-E. and Johanson, J. (2014), "Replacing Traditional Economics with Behavioral Assumptions in Constructing the Uppsala Model: Toward a Theory on the Evolution of the Multinational Business Enterprise (MBE)", Multidisciplinary Insights from New AIB Fellows (Research in Global Strategic Management, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 159-176. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1064-485720140000016006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited