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Despite the growing interest in IJVs and their governance, systematic research is limited on the board of directors and their roles in international joint ventures in emerging markets. In this study, we draw from corporate governance research that suggests that the levels of control and collaboration by boards are influenced by organizational complexity. While joint ventures possess several similarities compared to unitary firms, they also have unique sources of complexity given the fact that two or more international partners collaborate within JVs under an incomplete contract. Based on a sample of 114 IJVs, we argue and show four separate conditions that influence the functions that boards undertake as well as how control and collaboration as two separate functions are interrelated. Our findings address calls for research to open the black box of what boards actually do as well as to bring corporate governance theory to new organizational forms such as joint ventures.

To date, there has been little research about the degree of correspondence between partner equity ownership and partner representation on boards of joint ventures (JVs). It is generally assumed that partners’ share equals board representation in percentage. This paper aims to explore various instances of deviation from the above norm.

Using a unique database of 259 JV contracts extracted from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and by drawing from resource dependency and transaction cost theories, this manuscript explores the factors that increase or decrease the deviation between equity share and board representation.

The results show that international JVs (IJVs) tend to deviate more, while JVs with a deadlock clause, a large board and based in a stable country deviate less from the degree of correspondence between equity share and board representation.

This study contributes to the alliance and governance literatures by identifying factors that influence the degree of correspondence between partner investment (equity share) and control through board of director representation.

This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive review of the literature on the governance of international joint ventures (IJVs).

Through focusing on IJV boards and top teams, examination of the current debate regarding IJV directors' contribution to board performance and effectiveness is undertaken and, in so doing, directions for future research are identified.

The literature review reveals that little consideration has been given by researchers to the work of the IJV board and the role and contribution of IJV board directors to board effectiveness. Further, it is concluded that current understanding of IJV board functioning and the ways in which directors of IJV boards contribute to board effectiveness remains incomplete.

Apart from highlighting the need for further study into the role and contribution of IJV board directors to board effectiveness, the paper suggests ways in which IJV director contribution and performance could be explored further, and offers current practical implications.

This paper analyses the investment patterns of Sino‐British joint ventures in China. The research is based on the data of 551 Sino‐British joint ventures formed over the period of 1983 to 1996. It aims to provide an overview of Sino‐British joint ventures' investment in China and to explain the investment conditions. The article analyses the investment patterns from the dimensions of investment value, geographical location, industry sector and equity ownership. To explain the formation of the patterns, it further explores the host country factors of investment based on the policy framework, economic determinants and business facilitation. It reveals the investment trend, the uneven spatial distribution, the sectoral characteristics and the ownership structure of joint ventures. Suggests that government economic strategy and policies towards FDI are imperative in shaping the investment patterns. Locational advantages, economic growth, industrial structures and reform process are major economic factors influencing the investment decisions. Decentralisation of decision making and local governments' facilitation efforts also play a complementary role in attracting foreign investment.

The Chinese government has liberalized the foreign investment environment considerably in order to encourage inward investment, primarily through joint ventures. Reviews the changes in the regulatory environment and presents new data from UK partners engaged in Chinese joint ventures. The findings indicate that the main force motivating UK firms to form joint ventures is to gain faster entry to the Chinese market. The joint ventures allow UK firms access to largely intangible inputs that they would otherwise have difficulty acquiring. While choice of Chinese partners appears to be highly constrained, on the whole the UK partners analysed the joint venture decision thoroughly and generally concluded that they had joined forces with the “right” partner.

There are two connected purposes: to reflect on the widespread current use and abuse of the term “public‐private partnership”, and to present a case study of an unusual joint venture associating a public and a private enterprise in delivering a multi‐utility service in the Canberra region of Australia.

The article combines the case study method with a review of relevant discourse about PPPs.

On the case study evidence presented, the article concludes that this joint venture comes much closer to being a genuine public‐private partnership than many arrangements loosely described as PPPs today.

The article invites the practitioner/academic community to think more precisely about the factors that need to be considered before it is appropriate to claim that a PPP exists.

The joint venture that is the subject of this case study has not previously been analysed in this way. The article suggests that it has value in serving as a model for the development of better thinking about PPPs.

Amidst the diverse forms of international direct investment, the international joint venture (IJV) appears to have become the fastest growing, most popular type of operation. An IJV may be defined as “a separate legal organizational entity representing the partial holdings of two or more parent firms, in which the headquarters of at least one parent firm is located outside the country of operation of the joint venture. This entity is subject to the joint control of its parent firms, each of which is economically and legally independent of the other”.

This article tests a number of channel behaviour hypotheses in a unique structural arrangement – the joint venture. The results indicate that goal disparity is a significant predictor of conflict and that perceived conflict is related to member satisfaction, manifest conflict, and desire for change. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.

International alliances are becoming an increasingly important and recognized means of conducting business. Once viewed primarily as a strategy to enter foreign markets, alliances have become a very effective way for established businesses to accelerate technological development, enhance productivity and lower investment risks. In many ways joint ventures offer the most attractive form of trade alliance and a significant portion of the international joint ventures are in the service sector. Although, services are generally viewed by academicians and practitioners differently than products, this apparent difference has been neglected in the study of joint ventures formation and operations. Since the basic conditions and scope for services and products differ, one can expect that joint venture partners' interest and management strategies for service joint venture will also differ. Thus, the purpose of this study is to discuss and identify major research issues in studying service joint ventures. Some research propositions in regard to the service joint ventures are developed. Furthermore, future research avenues in international service joint venture operations are delineated.

Many Sino‐foreign joint ventures are set up by acquiring existing state enterprises. Under this arrangement, the foreign partner normally has to restructure the original state enterprise by transferring its routines to China. More often than not, resistance to change is experienced during the transition period. This paper explores the factors affecting such resistance. A grounded theory approach using five cases is adopted. The major factors identified are: Chinese partner's perceived need for change, number of active foreign partners, deployment of experts by the foreign partner, age of the former state enterprise, and joint venture performance. Propositions are derived from the case evidence and relevant literature. A preliminary model linking up the propositions is developed.