IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/worbus/v50y2015i3p465-476.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of culture on the responsiveness of firms to mimetic forces: Imitative foreign joint venture entries into China, 1985–2003

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Chengguang
  • Parboteeah, K. Praveen

Abstract

Institutional theory suggests that firms imitate their peers when deciding to enter a foreign market in order to gain legitimacy and cope with uncertainty. There is little investigation, however, on how home country culture affects a firm's mimetic behavior as a response to institutional influences. To understand culture's role, this paper examines the effect of the cultural environment on mimetic foreign joint venture entries into China. Based on a sample of 1361 international joint venture entries in the 1985–2003 period, we find that the cultural dimensions individualism–collectivism and power distance significantly affect the responsiveness of firms to mimetic forces.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Chengguang & Parboteeah, K. Praveen, 2015. "The effect of culture on the responsiveness of firms to mimetic forces: Imitative foreign joint venture entries into China, 1985–2003," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 465-476.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:50:y:2015:i:3:p:465-476
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2014.08.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951614000510
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jwb.2014.08.002?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. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas & Joulfaian, David & Rosen, Harvey S, 1994. "Sticking It Out: Entrepreneurial Survival and Liquidity Constraints," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(1), pages 53-75, February.
    2. Oded Shenkar, 2001. "Cultural Distance Revisited: Towards a More Rigorous Conceptualization and Measurement of Cultural Differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 519-535, September.
    3. Taras, Vas & Steel, Piers & Kirkman, Bradley L., 2012. "Improving national cultural indices using a longitudinal meta-analysis of Hofstede's dimensions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 329-341.
    4. Ilya Okhmatovskiy & Robert J. David, 2012. "Setting Your Own Standards: Internal Corporate Governance Codes as a Response to Institutional Pressure," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 155-176, February.
    5. K. Praveen Parboteeah & John B. Cullen, 2003. "Social Institutions and Work Centrality: Explorations Beyond National Culture," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 137-148, April.
    6. Parboteeah, K. Praveen & Cullen, John B. & Lim, Lrong, 2004. "Formal volunteering: a cross-national test," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 431-441, November.
    7. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 1977. "The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 8(1), pages 23-32, March.
    8. David G. McKendrick, 2001. "Global strategy and population‐level learning: the case of hard disk drives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 307-334, April.
    9. Demirbag, Mehmet & Glaister, Keith W. & Tatoglu, Ekrem, 2007. "Institutional and transaction cost influences on MNEs' ownership strategies of their affiliates: Evidence from an emerging market," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 418-434, December.
    10. Luo, Yadong, 2007. "From foreign investors to strategic insiders: Shifting parameters, prescriptions and paradigms for MNCs in China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 14-34, March.
    11. Stein, Ernesto & Daude, Christian, 2007. "Longitude matters: Time zones and the location of foreign direct investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 96-112, March.
    12. Bruce Kogut & Harbir Singh, 1988. "The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 411-432, September.
    13. Daphne Yiu & Shige Makino, 2002. "The Choice Between Joint Venture and Wholly Owned Subsidiary: An Institutional Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(6), pages 667-683, December.
    14. Shi, Yizheng, 2001. "Technological capabilities and international production strategy of firms: the case of foreign direct investment in China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 184-204, July.
    15. Jane W Lu, 2002. "Intra- and Inter-organizational Imitative Behavior: Institutional Influences on Japanese Firms' Entry Mode Choice," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(1), pages 19-37, March.
    16. Luthans, Fred & Zhu, Weichun & Avolio, Bruce J., 2006. "The impact of efficacy on work attitudes across cultures," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 121-132, June.
    17. Erumban, Abdul Azeez & de Jong, Simon B., 2006. "Cross-country differences in ICT adoption: A consequence of Culture?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 302-314, December.
    18. Bradley L Kirkman & Kevin B Lowe & Cristina B Gibson, 2006. "A quarter century of Culture's Consequences: a review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede's cultural values framework," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(3), pages 285-320, May.
    19. Chwo-Ming J Yu & Kiyohiko Ito, 1988. "Oligopolistic Reaction and Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of the U.S. Tire and Textiles Industries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 449-460, September.
    20. Jiatao Li, 1995. "Foreign entry and survival: Effects of strategic choices on performance in international markets," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 333-351.
    21. Dorfman, Peter & Javidan, Mansour & Hanges, Paul & Dastmalchian, Ali & House, Robert, 2012. "GLOBE: A twenty year journey into the intriguing world of culture and leadership," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 504-518.
    22. Anna Lamin & Srilata Zaheer, 2012. "Wall Street vs. Main Street: Firm Strategies for Defending Legitimacy and Their Impact on Different Stakeholders," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 47-66, February.
    23. Lee, Sang M. & Peterson, Suzanne J., 2000. "Culture, entrepreneurial orientation, and global competitiveness," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 401-416, January.
    24. Peter W. Liesch & Lawrence S. Welch & Peter J. Buckley, 2011. "Risk and Uncertainty in Internationalisation and International Entrepreneurship Studies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 851-873, December.
    25. Deng, Ping, 2009. "Why do Chinese firms tend to acquire strategic assets in international expansion?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 74-84, January.
    26. Yadong Luo, 1998. "Timing of Investment and International Expansion Performance in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(2), pages 391-407, June.
    27. Gordon Redding, 2005. "The thick description and comparison of societal systems of capitalism," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(2), pages 123-155, March.
    28. Snejina Michailova & Siah Hwee Ang, 2008. "Institutional Explanations of Cross-border Alliance Modes: The Case of Emerging Economies Firms," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 551-576, November.
    29. Metcalf, Lynn E. & Bird, Allan & Shankarmahesh, Mahesh & Aycan, Zeynep & Larimo, Jorma & Valdelamar, Dídimo Dewar, 2006. "Cultural tendencies in negotiation: A comparison of Finland, India, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 382-394, December.
    30. Jun Xia & Justin Tan & David Tan, 2008. "Mimetic entry and bandwagon effect: the rise and decline of international equity joint venture in China," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 195-217, February.
    31. Yang, Monica & Hyland, MaryAnne, 2012. "Similarity in Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions: Imitation, Uncertainty and Experience among Chinese Firms, 1985–2006," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 352-365.
    32. Elango, B., 2009. "Minimizing effects of 'liability of foreignness': Response strategies of foreign firms in the United States," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 51-62, January.
    33. Melissa A. Schilling, 2009. "Understanding the alliance data," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 233-260, March.
    34. Christine M Chan & Shige Makino & Takehiko Isobe, 2006. "Interdependent behavior in foreign direct investment: the multi-level effects of prior entry and prior exit on foreign market entry," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(5), pages 642-665, September.
    35. Shane, Scott A., 1992. "Why do some societies invent more than others?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 29-46, January.
    36. Child, John & Yan, Yanni, 1999. "Investment and control in international joint ventures: the case of China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 3-15, April.
    37. Heather Berry & Mauro F Guillén & Nan Zhou, 2010. "An institutional approach to cross-national distance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(9), pages 1460-1480, December.
    38. Peterson, Robert M. & Clay Dibrell, C. & Pett, Timothy L., 2002. "Long- vs. short-term performance perspectives of Western European, Japanese, and U.S. countries: where do they lie?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 245-255, January.
    39. Keith D. Brouthers & Lance Eliot Brouthers, 2003. "Why Service and Manufacturing Entry Mode Choices Differ: The Influence of Transaction Cost Factors, Risk and Trust," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 1179-1204, July.
    40. Li, Jiatao & Yao, Fiona Kun, 2010. "The role of reference groups in international investment decisions by firms from emerging economies," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 143-153, June.
    41. Andrew Delios & Ajai S. Gaur & Shige Makino, 2008. "The Timing of International Expansion: Information, Rivalry and Imitation Among Japanese Firms, 1980–2002," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 169-195, January.
    42. Raymond Loi & Long Lam & Ka Chan, 2012. "Coping with Job Insecurity: The Role of Procedural Justice, Ethical Leadership and Power Distance Orientation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 361-372, July.
    43. Geert Hofstede & Cheryl A Van Deusen & Carolyn B Mueller & Thomas A Charles, 2002. "What Goals Do Business Leaders Pursue? A Study in Fifteen Countries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(4), pages 785-803, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Deephouse, David L. & Newburry, William & Soleimani, Abrahim, 2016. "The effects of institutional development and national culture on cross-national differences in corporate reputation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 463-473.
    2. Aditya Simha & K. Praveen Parboteeah, 2020. "The Big 5 Personality Traits and Willingness to Justify Unethical Behavior—A Cross-National Examination," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 451-471, December.
    3. Bin Guo & Gangxiang Xu & Wen Li, 2017. "Seeking legitimacy: Chinese OFDI and domestic isomorphic pressures," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 16(1), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Çiğdem BASKICI & Yavuz ERCİL, 2019. "Çokuluslu Şirketlerin Doğrudan Yabancı Yatırım Yer Seçiminde Sektör Taşıma Kapasitesinin Gerekliliği," Istanbul Business Research, Istanbul University Business School, vol. 48(1), pages 144-159, May.
    5. Cynthia E. Clark & Punit Arora & Patricia Gabaldon, 2022. "Female Representation on Corporate Boards in Europe: The Interplay of Organizational Social Consciousness and Institutions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 165-186, September.
    6. Beamish, Paul W. & Lupton, Nathaniel C., 2016. "Cooperative strategies in international business and management: Reflections on the past 50 years and future directions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 163-175.
    7. 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).

    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. Claudio Giachetti & Ettore Spadafora, 2017. "Conformity or Nonconformity in Multinationality? Performance Implications for the Italian Ceramic Tile Manufacturers," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 683-715, October.
    2. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Tatiana Kostova & Vincent E. Kunst & Ettore Spadafora & Marc van Essen, 2018. "Cultural Distance and Firm Internationalization," Post-Print hal-02312065, HAL.
    3. Fernando Moreira Silva & Mario Henrique Ogasavara & Renato Pereira, 2024. "Institutional distances and equity-based entry modes: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 1723-1790, September.
    4. George Peng & Paul Beamish, 2014. "The effect of host country long term orientation on subsidiary ownership and survival," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 423-453, June.
    5. Hitt, Michael A. & Li, Dan & Xu, Kai, 2016. "International strategy: From local to global and beyond," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 58-73.
    6. Wang, Yong & Li, Kaige & Zhu, Yunxia & Chen, Jiawen, 2023. "Imitation, performance feedback, and outward foreign direct investments by emerging market firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    7. Hernández, Virginia & Nieto, María Jesús, 2015. "The effect of the magnitude and direction of institutional distance on the choice of international entry modes," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 122-132.
    8. Hui, Kent N. & Hult, G. Tomas M. & Ketchen, David J., 2020. "Causal attribution for peer performance and international joint venture divestment," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2).
    9. Giovanna Magnani & Antonella Zucchella & Dinorà Eliete Floriani, 2015. "Relativity and asymmetry in distance. The role of strategic distance in the internationalization decisions of Brazilian and Italian firms," DEM Working Papers Series 111, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    10. Jonas Puck & Markus K. Hödl & Igor Filatotchev & Hans-Georg Wolff & Benjamin Bader, 2016. "Ownership mode, cultural distance, and the extent of parent firms’ strategic control over subsidiaries in the PRC," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 1075-1105, December.
    11. Venkateswaran, Ramya Tarakad & George, Rejie, 2020. "When does culture matter? A multilevel study on the role of situational moderators," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 99-122.
    12. Tatiana Kostova & Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & W. Richard Scott & Vincent E. Kunst & Chei Hwee Chua & Marc Essen, 2020. "The construct of institutional distance through the lens of different institutional perspectives: Review, analysis, and recommendations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 467-497, June.
    13. Lahiri, Somnath & Elango, B. & Kundu, Sumit K., 2014. "Cross-border acquisition in services: Comparing ownership choice of developed and emerging economy MNEs in India," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 409-420.
    14. Jiang, Guoliang F. & Holburn, Guy L.F. & Beamish, Paul W., 2014. "The Impact of Vicarious Experience on Foreign Location Strategy," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 345-358.
    15. Ana M. Romero-Martínez & Fernando E. García-Muiña & Agnieszka Chidlow & Jorma Larimo, 2019. "Formal and Informal Institutional Differences Between Home and Host Country and Location Choice: Evidence from the Spanish Hotel Industry," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 41-65, February.
    16. Surdu, Irina & Mellahi, Kamel, 2016. "Theoretical foundations of equity based foreign market entry decisions: A review of the literature and recommendations for future research," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 1169-1184.
    17. Cláudia Frias Pinto & Fernando Ribeiro Serra & Manuel Portugal Ferreira, 2014. "A bibliometric study on culture research in International Business," Working Papers 107, globADVANTAGE, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.
    18. Sasaki, Innan & Yoshikawa, Katsuhiko, 2014. "Going beyond national cultures – Dynamic interaction between intra-national, regional, and organizational realities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 455-464.
    19. Rosalie L Tung & Günter K Stahl, 2018. "The tortuous evolution of the role of culture in IB research: What we know, what we don’t know, and where we are headed," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1167-1189, December.
    20. Danchi Tan & Weichieh Su & Joseph T. Mahoney & Yasemin Kor, 2020. "A review of research on the growth of multinational enterprises: A Penrosean lens," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 498-537, June.

    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:worbus:v:50:y:2015:i:3:p:465-476. 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/620401/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.