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The purpose of this paper is to explore, using the conceptual frameworks of psychic distance and resource-based view, how Brazilian firms resolve strategic dilemma. Brazilian firms face a strategic dilemma about whether to diversify and exploit the rapidly growing markets of China or to protect and expand the established markets of the Greater Mercosur region. The strategic responses of Brazilian business to business firms are examined within the context of internationalization decisions.

The paper takes a qualitative approach to study the decisions taken by Brazilian firms to deal with the strategic dilemma arising from competitive developments in domestic and regional markets.

Findings support four hypotheses based on the psychic distance and resource-based view frameworks. However, the fifth hypothesis that trust would be an impediment for establishing business in China for Brazilian firms was not supported. Trust did not appear as a concern for Brazilian businesses.

Two practical implications can be drawn from the findings. First, Brazilian firms have to consider whether they have made themselves vulnerable to attacks from Chinese firms in the Greater Mercosur region by not aggressively entering the Chinese markets. Second, they also have to understand whether their lack of strong presence in the Chinese markets has resulted not only in lost opportunities but also in making it difficult for them to enter the market later.

The paper takes a multi-theoretical approach to provide insights into the international business expansion decisions of firms in a major economy in the Greater Mercosur region. It contributes to the growing literature on firms in emerging economies. By adopting a qualitative approach to study the research questions, the paper provides insights into the behaviors of firms confronting strategic tradeoffs.

According to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Ernst & Young, 2010), the Brazilian middle class is represented by approximately 100 million people. Moreover, according to the Brazilian Association of Importers and Manufactures of Motor Vehicle Companies (ABEIFA, 2015), Brazil was ranked fourth in the world in the ranking of major automobile consumers. This is undoubtedly a highly attractive market for world producers in this sector. However, the Brazilian automobile market has some specific features that require a very prudent operation. This case aims to investigate how those idiosyncrasies were approached by the Chinese car manufacturer JAC Motors, which in addition to not having previous experience in that market, also presented a negative country of origin image.

We rely on a case study method to better understand how the executives of this Chinese firm approached the Brazilian market.

Pulling and pushing factors are the basis of the adaptation process followed by the car manufacturer to better serve the identified idiosyncrasies. It was not only China that pushed JAC Motors to go abroad, but also Brazil that attracted (pulled) the car manufacturer’s investment. Additionally, there is evidence of pushing factors on the side of JAC’s strategy and pulling factors on the side of a Brazilian partner.

Internationalisation decision-making processes often result from a combination of factors which gain a specific ‘momentum’ that result in an extraordinary occasion that provides a unique opportunity to invest abroad.

The uniqueness of the opportunity to invest abroad is the result of the alignment of pulling and pushing factors, in the country, the company and at the decision-making level.

This study aims to formulate a mechanism design in the derivatives market, summarizing a framework to set up the Brazilian electricity futures market.

This exploratory study formulates a mechanism design in the derivatives market, summarizing a framework to set up the Brazilian electricity futures market.

The results show a positive economic outcome for the creation of the Brazilian futures electricity market.

The main feature in this work is to summarize a framework to set up the Brazilian electricity futures market applying mechanism design, applicable in other countries. The features of the mechanism are the space of expected results (Z), the strategies to survey the environmental space (θ) and the mechanism design – messages space (M).

This study examines transmission of U.S. equity markets returns and volatility into Brazilian equity and labor markets. Monthly closing prices of U.S. S&P500 and Bovespa indexes are used to proxy U.S. and Brazilian equity market returns. Brazilian monthly unemployment rates and the average wage index are used to measure U.S. equity market spillovers on foreign labor markets. Using a vector autoregression (VAR) model, a unidirectional return and volatility transmission from the U.S. to Brazil is found. The evidence also indicates that there is a weaker but significant lagged spillover of U.S. stock returns and volatility to the Brazilian labor market.

The case of Wines Manufacturer from an Emerging Economy (WMEE) aims to provide a starting point for reflections and discussions about the influence of home country formal institutions on the internationalization process of an industry in an emerging market context.

The plot revolves around the Wines Manufacturer from an Emerging Economy project, which was created to promote the Brazilian wine industry in the international market. A qualitative-descriptive approach was applied to the study, and data collection was conducted through primary and secondary sources.

The context involves the difficulty of positioning Brazilian wines in both the domestic and international markets, especially fine wines. The relationship networks built during internationalization processes (in most cases promoted by formal institutions such as WMEE) help to shape strategies for Brazilian wineries.

Doing business in international markets has made Brazilian wine known worldwide and internationalized wineries can attain new levels of learning, which can be transposed into their domestic operations. If, on the one hand, institutions are important for promoting the industry and its internationalization process, on the other hand, it is equally true that the fragmented institutional structure and their overlapped roles generate many conflicts.

This paper reviews the growth of the Brazilian aircraft industry, and evaluates the strategic choices and government policies that have influenced its development. Brazil's goals of military independence, technological development and improvement of its balance of payments have influenced the development path chosen and the requirements for success. Brazil's attempts to overcome the barriers to achieving technological competence, cost competitiveness, market acceptance and financial sustainability are described. It is argued that the government has played a crucial role in providing financial resources and a protected domestic market, but that it has allowed the key enterprise, Embraer, to maintain an emphasis on commercial viability and international competitiveness. Embraer's emphasis on product niches where it has potential competitive advantages has been a key to its success. It is argued that a clear competitive strategy, based on a thorough analysis to the key success factors in the industry, is a vital link between government goals and support and international competitive success.

This paper questions currently accepted arguments about the impacts of pro-market reforms in the internalization of emerging country firms, through an in-depth analysis of the Brazilian case, thus revealing new dimensions to add to the extant literature.

Historical analysis is the central mode of investigation leading to a commitment of offering historically grounded explanation for pro-market reform impacts in the Brazilian industry.

Outcomes reveal that the impacts of pro-market reforms depend on (a) the purpose of their adoption, (b) the compatibility with the features of the local institutional context, and (c) the relative bargaining power of local firms vis-à-vis foreign multinationals.

The research is based on the Brazilian experience only which is indicative of what may have happened in other Latin American countries; however, the analytical approach may be extended to the study of other emerging countries.

By having a systemic perspective encompassing the different actors and the interdependence among themselves, it allows for an enhanced view of the factors which led to the adoption of pro-market reforms and the forces which acted for its configuration, thus helping policy-makers to better approach industrial policy-making.

A longitudinal perspective within a historical analysis is adopted, focusing on the interplay of macro-level and firm-level factors, resulting in a better understanding of the reasons which led to the adoption of pro-market reforms, the resistance to its implementation and its real outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to managers’ understanding of the internationalization of born global (BG) firms from developed countries in emerging markets. Adapting the new institutional sociology approach, the authors provide insights into how BGs might strive to bridge the institutional distance.

An explorative, multiple case study is used focusing on two Swiss BG firms in Brazil.

The study shows that these two firms faced similar institutional challenges. However, they approached them in different ways and achieved different outcomes. The comparison of these two cases highlights key factors that may influence successful internationalization, namely, niche strategies, high commitment modes of entry and the liability of outsidership.

The main research implication is that the market mode of entry and high commitment entry modes are conductive to local market knowledge acquisition. Future research should investigate how western BGs might overcome the disadvantages of foreignness and effectively gain acceptance in emerging markets such as in Brazil, China or India. This could be done by looking at micro-processes, e.g. multiple identities in which BGs might strive to simultaneously fit in and stand out in the host market.

The findings, which uncover key factors that influence internationalization, shall contribute to managers’ understanding of how BG firms from developed economies enter emerging markets and overcome challenges.

Comparing these two cases highlights key factors that may shed light on the successful internationalization of BGs from developed countries in emerging markets. The authors first describe the institutional isomorphic pressures on the two Swiss BGs in Brazil. Second, the authors reveal how they engaged in isomorphic processes to bridge the institutional distance.

According to the market timing theory, firms try to take advantage of windows of opportunity to raise capital by exploiting temporary cost fluctuations of alternative financing sources. In this context, the main objective of this paper is to examine the influence and persistence of market timing in the financing decisions of Brazilian firms that launched IPOs in the period from 2001 to 2011.

We analyze the influence of past market values on the capital structure of these firms, based on the main models proposed by Baker and Wurgler (2002), adapted to reflect the characteristics of Brazilian firms’ financial statements.

We find evidence of market timing, but this behavior is not sufficiently persistent in the period studied to the point of determining these firms’ capital structure. We believe the fact that Brazilian companies rarely carried out follow-on primary equity issues after floating their capital in the period analyzed, due to the presence of more advantageous financing sources (particularly from the national development bank, BNDES), explains the results. Therefore, Brazilian firms appear to be pay heed to different funding sources, in search of windows of opportunity, to guide their financing decisions and determine their capital structures.

The Brazilian capital market has been developing intensely in recent years, making it increasingly relevant to analyze the financing and investment decisions of the country’s listed companies. The Brazilian literature on capital structure is extensive, but few works have addressed the issue of market timing.

This study aims to analyse how different types of public policies have supported the internationalisation of latecomer science-based firms, taking the case of large Brazilian pharmaceutical companies (LBPCs).

The methodology comprises a multiple case study and uses a literature review, fieldwork interviews and document analysis of eight LBPCs, five policymakers and three sector experts.

Direct and indirect policies differ in supporting LBPCs’ internationalisation motivation. The indirect policies created the necessary conditions to accumulate knowledge and capacity in the domestic market. LBPCs that adhere more to policies supporting production and technological capabilities development are internationalising as an extension of their innovative efforts. In contrast, LBPCs that have built productive capacities and have not yet reached a minimum level of technological capacity go abroad to exploit their production capabilities with the support of direct policies.

This study contributes to international business and evolutionary literature, demonstrating the channels through which public policies support latecomer science-based firms. The results show that direct and indirect policies assist firms’ internationalisation in different ways, according to actors’ perception: providing support to strengthen their domestic capabilities, which have become competitive advantages in the international market; or offering support to external expansion. It emphasises that industrial policies are relevant to support companies in creating the initial conditions (ownership advantages) to internationalise, and direct policies are important to help companies to design international strategies. This study also debates that policies supporting companies’ internationalisation depend on their adhesion to programmes and incentives and their routines and capabilities, which are specific to each company and lead to different motivations for international expansion.