International Business and FDI

When firms cross borders to establish operations, hire workers, or acquire assets in foreign countries, they engage in foreign direct investment — a process shaped as much by political institutions, regulatory norms, and cultural distance as by market opportunity. Researchers study how multinational enterprises decide where and how to expand internationally, with particular attention to companies from emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil that have rapidly become significant global players despite operating from institutional environments quite different from those of traditional Western multinationals. A central question is how the rules of the game in a host country — property rights, legal enforcement, corruption levels — affect which strategies firms adopt and whether those investments ultimately stimulate local innovation and growth. Active debates concern whether standard theories of internationalization developed around American and European firms adequately explain the behavior of emerging-market multinationals, and how entrepreneurial ventures, not just large corporations, are increasingly participating in cross-border expansion.

Works

112,406

Total citations

1,417,644

Keywords

Foreign Direct InvestmentInstitutional EnvironmentInternationalization ProcessEmerging Market EnterprisesMultinational FirmsInnovation and Entrepreneurship