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Purpose – This chapter illustrates how agent-based modeling (ABM) simulations may be incorporated into future emerging market research so as to build and strengthen existing and new theory. The area of strategy and organizations has used cellular automata, NK landscapes, and network simulations, but international business has rarely entertained their use. This is a loss for the area because emerging markets are rapidly growing and changing while research lags behind. Emerging markets are extremely complex environments best studied using simulations as complementary to existing research tools.

Design/methodology/approach – This chapter divides emerging market studies into three main areas including (1) foreign direct investment, (2) governance structures, and (3) international trade exporting. Through a discussion of the existing research in each of these areas, research opportunities applying ABM are identified. Illustrations allow explanation of the three agent-based simulation methods, as mentioned, based on previous ABM research in strategy and demonstrate how ABM may be applied to future emerging market studies.

Findings – A main insight is that ABM could lead to the rapid catch-up and improvement of emerging market research, especially when data for empirical work is limited, nonexistent, or prohibitively expensive to gather. ABM does not replace empirical work, but past research can be clarified and early theory developed so that if data becomes available, empirical work can be sharp and quickly realized having strong theoretical guidance.

Originality/value – This work, aimed at emerging market researchers, uniquely highlights why and how simulation tools are required and may be used in emerging market research.

Welcome to the seventh volume of Research Methodology in Strategy and Management. The mission of this book series is to provide a forum for critique, commentary, and discussion about key methodology issues in the strategic management field. Strategic management relies on an array of complex methods to understand how firms can attain and sustain competitive advantage. How researchers employ different methods to conduct their research in different research contexts and understand the implications associated with their research choices is fundamental to the methodological rigour and the advancement of strategic management theory.