IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intman/v30y2024i2s1075425323000832.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nationalistic political rhetoric: measurement and preliminary insights

Author

Listed:
  • Mithani, Murad A.

Abstract

While nationalistic political rhetoric has become a critical concern for international business, the research in this area has lagged because of the unavailability of a representative measure. In this study, I introduce a largely unexplored source of data for international business research: Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT), and explain how GDELT can be used to operationalize politicians' use of nationalistic rhetoric across the world. After discussing the data and the operationalization of the measure, I offer some preliminary insights. They reveal that the rise of nationalistic political rhetoric is not a recent phenomenon but a consistent theme over the last three decades. Contrary to suggestions in the literature, it is not low-income or less developed environments but countries with higher income and well-developed institutions where nationalistic rhetoric is more visible and where it strongly deters FDI. The measure advanced in this study offers a renewed understanding of global sociopolitical risks. It also contributes to institutional theory by explicating how politicians use non-bureaucratic influence to affect informal institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Mithani, Murad A., 2024. "Nationalistic political rhetoric: measurement and preliminary insights," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:30:y:2024:i:2:s1075425323000832
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2023.101086
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1075425323000832
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intman.2023.101086?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erasmo Giambona & John R Graham & Campbell R Harvey, 2017. "The management of political risk," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(4), pages 523-533, May.
    2. Leeson, Peter T., 2005. "Endogenizing fractionalization," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 75-98, June.
    3. George Balabanis & Adamantios Diamantopoulos & Rene Dentiste Mueller & T C Melewar, 2001. "The Impact of Nationalism, Patriotism and Internationalism on Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(1), pages 157-175, March.
    4. I. Serdar Dinc & Isil Erel, 2013. "Economic Nationalism in Mergers and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(6), pages 2471-2514, December.
    5. Ram Mudambi, 2018. "Knowledge-intensive intangibles, spatial transaction costs, and the rise of populism," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 1(1), pages 44-52, June.
    6. Kwok Leung & Rabi S Bhagat & Nancy R Buchan & Miriam Erez & Cristina B Gibson, 2005. "Culture and international business: recent advances and their implications for future research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(4), pages 357-378, July.
    7. Christina Lubinski & R. Daniel Wadhwani, 2020. "Geopolitical jockeying: Economic nationalism and multinational strategy in historical perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 400-421, March.
    8. Peter Rodriguez & Donald S Siegel & Amy Hillman & Lorraine Eden, 2006. "Three lenses on the multinational enterprise: politics, corruption, and corporate social responsibility," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 733-746, November.
    9. Mary Anne Madeira, 2016. "New trade, new politics: intra-industry trade and domestic political coalitions," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 677-711, July.
    10. Oliver E. Williamson, 2000. "The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 595-613, September.
    11. Daphne W. Yiu & William P. Wan & Kelly Xing Chen & Xiaocong Tian, 2022. "Public sentiment is everything: Host-country public sentiment toward home country and acquisition ownership during institutional transition," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 1202-1227, August.
    12. Mark Lorenzen & Ram Mudambi & Andreas Schotter, 2020. "International connectedness and local disconnectedness: MNE strategy, city-regions and disruption," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(8), pages 1199-1222, October.
    13. Ahlerup, Pelle & Hansson, Gustav, 2011. "Nationalism and government effectiveness," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 431-451, September.
    14. Jin Hyung Kim, 2019. "Is your playing field unleveled? U.S. defense contracts and foreign firm lobbying," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(12), pages 1911-1937, December.
    15. Ron Kerr & Sarah Robinson & Martyna Śliwa, 2022. "Organising populism: From symbolic power to symbolic violence," Post-Print hal-04323340, HAL.
    16. Rajwani, Tazeeb & Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele, 2015. "Political activity and firm performance within nonmarket research: A review and international comparative assessment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 273-283.
    17. Dixit, Avinash & Weibull, Jörgen, 2006. "Political Polarization," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 655, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 19 Apr 2007.
    18. Dinc, I. Serdar, 2005. "Politicians and banks: Political influences on government-owned banks in emerging markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 453-479, August.
    19. Italo Colantone & Piero Stanig, 2019. "The Surge of Economic Nationalism in Western Europe," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 128-151, Fall.
    20. Wöcke, Albert & Moodley, Terence, 2015. "Corporate political strategy and liability of foreignness: Similarities and differences between local and foreign firms in the South African Health Sector," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 700-709.
    21. Jianjun Zhang & Xiaowei Rose Luo, 2013. "Dared to Care: Organizational Vulnerability, Institutional Logics, and MNCs’ Social Responsiveness in Emerging Markets," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(6), pages 1742-1764, December.
    22. Lee, Liane W.Y. & Sharma, Piyush & Barnes, Bradley R., 2022. "Adopting big data to create an “outside-in” global perspective of guanxi," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 614-628.
    23. Chan, Christine M. & Du, Jialin, 2022. "Formal institution deficiencies and informal institution substitution: MNC foreign ownership choice in emerging economy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 744-761.
    24. Italo Colantone & Piero Stanig, 2018. "The Trade Origins of Economic Nationalism: Import Competition and Voting Behavior in Western Europe," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(4), pages 936-953, October.
    25. Lee, Jeoung Yul & Jiménez, Alfredo & Choi, Seong-jin & Choi, Yun Hyeong, 2022. "Ideological polarization and corporate lobbying activity: The contingent impact of corruption distance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 448-461.
    26. Vladimir Gel'man, 2004. "The unrule of law in the making: The politics of informal institution building in Russia," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(7), pages 1021-1040.
    27. Fragkiskos Filippaios & Fatima Annan-Diab & Amir Hermidas & Charikleia Theodoraki, 2019. "Political governance, civil liberties, and human capital: Evaluating their effect on foreign direct investment in emerging and developing economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(7), pages 1103-1129, September.
    28. Li Dai & Lorraine Eden & Paul W. Beamish, 2017. "Caught in the crossfire: Dimensions of vulnerability and foreign multinationals' exit from war-afflicted countries," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7), pages 1478-1498, July.
    29. Thomas Lawton & Steven Mcguire & Tazeeb Rajwani, 2013. "Corporate Political Activity : A Literature Review and Research Agenda," Post-Print hal-02312913, HAL.
    30. Rammal, Hussain G. & Rose, Elizabeth L. & Ghauri, Pervez N. & Ørberg Jensen, Peter D. & Kipping, Matthias & Petersen, Bent & Scerri, Moira, 2022. "Economic nationalism and internationalization of services: Review and research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(3).
    31. Gautam Ahuja & Laurence Capron & Michael Lenox & Dennis A. Yao, 2018. "Strategy and the Institutional Envelope," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(2), pages 1-1, June.
    32. Colantone, Italo & Stanig, Piero, 2018. "Global Competition and Brexit," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 112(2), pages 201-218, May.
    33. Pradeep Chhibber, 1995. "Political parties, electoral competition, government expenditures and economic reform in India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 74-96.
    34. Anthony Downs, 1957. "An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(2), pages 135-135.
    35. Reid W Click & Robert J Weiner, 2010. "Resource nationalism meets the market: Political risk and the value of petroleum reserves," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(5), pages 783-803, June.
    36. Murad A Mithani, 2017. "Liability of foreignness, natural disasters, and corporate philanthropy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(8), pages 941-963, October.
    37. Federico Vegetti, 2019. "The Political Nature of Ideological Polarization: The Case of Hungary," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 681(1), pages 78-96, January.
    38. P. T. Muchlinski, 1993. "Economic Nationalism and the Regulation of Multinational Enterprises," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Anthony Carty & H. W. Singer (ed.), Conflict and Change in the 1990s, chapter 9, pages 138-156, Palgrave Macmillan.
    39. Peter T. Leeson, 2008. "Media Freedom, Political Knowledge, and Participation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 155-169, Spring.
    40. Isin Guler & Mauro F Guillén, 2010. "Institutions and the internationalization of US venture capital firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 185-205, February.
    41. William P. Wan & Amy J. Hillman, 2006. "One of these things is not like the others: What contributes to dissimilarity among MNE subsidiaries’ political strategy?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 85-107, February.
    42. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    43. Rodolphe Durand & Robert M. Grant & Tammy L. Madsen & Sinziana Dorobantu & Aseem Kaul & Bennet Zelner, 2017. "Nonmarket strategy research through the lens of new institutional economics: An integrative review and future directions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 114-140, January.
    44. Albert Breton, 1964. "The Economics of Nationalism," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(4), pages 376-376.
    45. David H. Bearce & Kim‐Lee Tuxhorn, 2017. "When Are Monetary Policy Preferences Egocentric? Evidence from American Surveys and an Experiment," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(1), pages 178-193, January.
    46. W. J. Henisz, 2000. "The Institutional Environment for Economic Growth," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 1-31, March.
    47. Gavin Abercrombie & Riza Batista-Navarro, 2020. "Sentiment and position-taking analysis of parliamentary debates: a systematic literature review," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 245-270, April.
    48. Ruggie, John Gerard, 1997. "Globalization and the embedded liberalism compromise: The end of an era?," MPIfG Working Paper 97/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    49. Pei Sun & Kamel Mellahi & Eric Thun, 2010. "The dynamic value of MNE political embeddedness: The case of the Chinese automobile industry," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(7), pages 1161-1182, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pei Sun & Jonathan P. Doh & Tazeeb Rajwani & Donald Siegel, 2021. "Navigating cross-border institutional complexity: A review and assessment of multinational nonmarket strategy research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(9), pages 1818-1853, December.
    2. Shirodkar, Vikrant & Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Lawton, Thomas C., 2024. "MNE nonmarket strategy in a changing world: Complexities, varieties, and a values-based approach," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    3. Banerjee, Shantanu & Venaik, Sunil & Brewer, Paul, 2019. "Analysing corporate political activity in MNC subsidiaries through the integration-responsiveness framework," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 1-1.
    4. Shantanu Banerjee & Sunil Venaik, 2018. "The Effect of Corporate Political Activity on MNC Subsidiary Legitimacy: An Institutional Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 813-844, October.
    5. Xu, Kai & Hitt, Michael A. & Brock, David & Pisano, Vincenzo & Huang, Lulu S.R., 2021. "Country institutional environments and international strategy: A review and analysis of the research," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1).
    6. Bucheli, Marcelo & DeBerge, Thomas, 2024. "Multinational enterprises’ nonmarket strategies: Insights from History," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    7. Lee, Jeoung Yul & Jiménez, Alfredo & Choi, Seong-jin & Choi, Yun Hyeong, 2022. "Ideological polarization and corporate lobbying activity: The contingent impact of corruption distance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 448-461.
    8. Klopf, Patricia & Nell, Phillip C., 2018. "How “space” and “place” influence subsidiary host country political embeddedness," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 186-197.
    9. Iiris Saittakari & Tiina Ritvala & Rebecca Piekkari & Perttu Kähäri & Sami Moisio & Tomas Hanell & Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, 2023. "A review of location, politics, and the multinational corporation: Bringing political geography into international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(6), pages 969-995, August.
    10. Naoki Yasuda & Hitoshi Mitsuhashi, 2017. "Learning from Political Change and the Development of MNCs’ Political Capabilities: Evidence from the Global Mining Industry," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 749-774, October.
    11. Peprah, Augustine Awuah & Atarah, Bede Akorige & Kumodzie-Dussey, Makafui Kwame, 2024. "Nonmarket strategy and legitimacy in institutionally voided environments: The case of Jumia, an African e-commerce giant," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    12. Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Lawton, Thomas C., 2020. "Information and nonmarket strategy: Conceptualizing the interrelationship between big data and corporate political activity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    13. João Albino-Pimentel & Jennifer Oetzel & Chang Hoon Oh & Nicholas A. Poggioli, 2021. "Positive institutional changes through peace: The relative effects of peace agreements and non-market capabilities on FDI," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(7), pages 1256-1278, September.
    14. Gao, Yu & Yang, Zhuoer & Huang, Kuo-Feng & Gao, Shanxing & Yang, Wei, 2018. "Addressing the cross-boundary missing link between corporate political activities and firm competencies: The mediating role of institutional capital," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 259-268.
    15. Leonardo Baccini & Iain Osgood & Stephen Weymouth, 2019. "The service economy: U.S. trade coalitions in an era of deindustrialization," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 261-296, June.
    16. Chengguang Li & Ilgaz Arikan & Oded Shenkar & Asli Arikan, 2020. "The impact of country-dyadic military conflicts on market reaction to cross-border acquisitions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(3), pages 299-325, April.
    17. Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong, 2021. "Responsible Firm Behaviour in Political Markets: Judging the Ethicality of Corporate Political Activity in Weak Institutional Environments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(2), pages 325-345, August.
    18. Donnelly, Róisín & Manolova, Tatiana S., 2020. "Foreign location decisions through an institutional lens: A systematic review and future research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    19. Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong & Daniel Aghanya & Tazeeb Rajwani, 2020. "Corporate Political Strategies in Weak Institutional Environments: A Break from Conventions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(4), pages 855-876, February.
    20. Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong & Jedrzej George Frynas, 2018. "Investment Climate Constraints as Determinants of Political Tie Intensity in Emerging Countries: Evidence from Foreign Firms in Ghana," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 675-703, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:30:y:2024:i:2:s1075425323000832. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/601266/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.