IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/worbus/v58y2023i1s1090951622000906.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decoupling in international business: Evidence, drivers, impact, and implications for IB research

Author

Listed:
  • Witt, Michael A.
  • Lewin, Arie Y.
  • Li, Peter Ping
  • Gaur, Ajai

Abstract

We argue that decoupling, defined as the process of weakening interdependence between two nations or blocs of nations, has been ongoing between China and the United States and is likely to accelerate, with major implications for IB and MNE strategies and management. We present data that the world has experienced deglobalization and China-US decoupling and discuss the dynamics underlying decoupling and their implications for IB. We propose an initial framework of variations in decoupling by industry characteristics, and we outline novel and important questions for IB research growing out of our analysis. We conclude with a brief exposition of possible alternative scenarios.

Suggested Citation

  • Witt, Michael A. & Lewin, Arie Y. & Li, Peter Ping & Gaur, Ajai, 2023. "Decoupling in international business: Evidence, drivers, impact, and implications for IB research," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:58:y:2023:i:1:s1090951622000906
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2022.101399
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951622000906
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jwb.2022.101399?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. Barry Eichengreen & Donghyun Park & Kwanho Shin, 2012. "When Fast-Growing Economies Slow Down: International Evidence and Implications for China," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 11(1), pages 42-87, Winter/Sp.
    2. Huang, Yi & Sheng, Liugang & Wang, Gewei, 2021. "How did rising labor costs erode China’s global advantage?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 632-653.
    3. Olga Petricevic & David J Teece, 2019. "The structural reshaping of globalization: Implications for strategic sectors, profiting from innovation, and the multinational enterprise," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(9), pages 1487-1512, December.
    4. Delios, Andrew & Perchthold, Gordon & Capri, Alex, 2021. "Cohesion, COVID-19 and contemporary challenges to globalization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    5. Barry Eichengreen & Donghyun Park & Kwanho Shin, 2013. "Growth Slowdowns Redux: New Evidence on the Middle-Income Trap," NBER Working Papers 18673, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Alan M. Rugman & Alain Verbeke, 2005. "A Perspective on Regional and Global Strategies of Multinational Enterprises," Chapters, in: Analysis of Multinational Strategic Management, chapter 8, pages 104-119, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Jing Li & Klaus E Meyer & Hua Zhang & Yuan Ding, 2018. "Diplomatic and corporate networks: Bridges to foreign locations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(6), pages 659-683, August.
    8. Wang, Liang & Xie, Zaiyang, 2021. "An Outcome of Decoupling and De-globalization? The Weakened Impact of Internationalization on Innovation of Chinese Firms Since 2016," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(3), pages 630-635, July.
    9. Arie Y. Lewin & Michael A. Witt, 2022. "China’s Belt and Road Initiative and international business: The overlooked centrality of politics," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(2), pages 266-275, June.
    10. Williamson, Peter, 2021. "De-Globalisation and Decoupling: Post-COVID-19 Myths versus Realities," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 29-34, February.
    11. Dai, Mi & Maitra, Madhura & Yu, Miaojie, 2016. "Unexceptional exporter performance in China? The role of processing trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 177-189.
    12. George, Gerard & Schillebeeckx, Simon J.D., 2022. "Digital transformation, sustainability, and purpose in the multinational enterprise," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(3).
    13. Unknown, 2022. "Wildlife Economics in the American West - Summary," Western Economics Forum, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 20(1), May.
    14. Yadong Luo & Rosalie L Tung, 2018. "A general theory of springboard MNEs," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(2), pages 129-152, February.
    15. Li, Peter Ping & Lewin, Arie Y. & Witt, Michael A. & Välikangas, Liisa, 2021. "De-globalization and Decoupling: A Luck of the Draw for India?," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 389-393, May.
    16. Yadong Luo & Michael A. Witt, 2022. "Springboard MNEs under de-globalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 767-780, June.
    17. Lauren A. Johnston, 2019. "The Belt and Road Initiative: What is in it for China?," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 40-58, January.
    18. Etienne Chevalier & Sergio Pulido & Elizabeth Z'u~niga, 2021. "American options in the Volterra Heston model," Papers 2103.11734, arXiv.org, revised May 2022.
    19. Hu, Yimei & Tian, Kailan & Wu, Tian & Yang, Cuihong, 2021. "The Lose-Lose Consequence: Assessing US-China Trade Decoupling through the Lens of Global Value Chains," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 429-446, May.
    20. Stav Fainshmidt & Michael A Witt & Ruth V Aguilera & Alain Verbeke, 2020. "The contributions of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 455-466, June.
    21. Lauren A. Johnston, 2019. "The Belt and Road Initiative: What is in it for China?," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies 201903, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    22. Alain Verbeke & Régis Coeurderoy & Tanja Matt, 2018. "The future of international business research on corporate globalization that never was…," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1101-1112, December.
    23. Li, Peter Ping, 2020. "Organizational Resilience for a New Normal: Balancing the Paradox of Global Interdependence," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 503-509, July.
    24. Tan, Hao & Yang, Mengying, 2021. "The New Liability of Origin in Global Decoupling," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(3), pages 624-629, July.
    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. Sorin M. S. Krammer & Ari Assche, 2024. "Chip war: the fight for the world’s most critical technology," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(7), pages 945-947, September.
    2. Sorin Krammer, 2024. "Weaponizing globalization: a review of Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman’s Underground empire: how America weaponized the world economy," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(2), pages 247-251, June.
    3. Farkas, Beáta & Pelle, Anita & Somosi, Sarolta, 2023. "Az Európai Unió és a geoökonómiai kihívások - ipar- és versenypolitikai válaszok [The European Union and geoeconomic challenges: industrial and competition policy responses]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1193-1212.
    4. Hartwell, Christopher A. & Zadorozhna, Olha, 2024. "The connections that bind: Political connectivity in the face of geopolitical disruption," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    5. Sorin M. S. Krammer, 2023. "Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(4), pages 541-545, December.
    6. Anthony Goerzen & Christian Geisler Asmussen & Bo Bernhard Nielsen, 2024. "Global cities, the liability of foreignness, and theory on place and space in international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(1), pages 10-27, February.
    7. Eichenauer, Vera & Wang, Feicheng, 2024. "Mild deglobalization: Foreign investment screening and cross-border investment," Kiel Working Papers 2265, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Bublu Thakur-Weigold & Sébastien Miroudot, 2024. "Supply chain myths in the resilience and deglobalization narrative: consequences for policy," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 99-111, March.
    9. Fjellström, Daniella & Bai, Wensong & Oliveira, Luis & Fang, Tony, 2023. "Springboard internationalisation in times of geopolitical tensions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6).
    10. Yadong Luo & Ari Assche, 2023. "The rise of techno-geopolitical uncertainty: Implications of the United States CHIPS and Science Act," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(8), pages 1423-1440, October.
    11. Ari Van Assche & Valentina De Marchi, 2024. "Defining the boundaries of international business policy research," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, March.
    12. Caleb H. Tse & Klaus E. Meyer & Yigang Pan & Tailan Chi, 2024. "Evolution of MNE strategies amid China’s changing institutions: a thematic review," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(6), pages 657-675, August.
    13. Barbaglia, Martina & Bianchini, Roberto & Butticè, Vincenzo & Elia, Stefano & Mariani, Marcello M., 2023. "The role of environmental sustainability in the relocation choices of MNEs: Back to the home country or welcome in a new host country?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    14. Eugénie Coche & Ans Kolk & Václav Ocelík, 2024. "Unravelling cross-country regulatory intricacies of data governance: the relevance of legal insights for digitalization and international business," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 112-127, March.
    15. Meyer, Klaus E. & Fang, Tony & Panibratov, Andrei Y. & Peng, Mike W. & Gaur, Ajai, 2023. "International business under sanctions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    16. Huang, Dongdong & Tsui-Auch, Lai Si & Dieleman, Marleen & Gomulya, David, 2024. "Politically connected EMNCs in a (de)globalising world: A review and future research directions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(3).
    17. Marco Bottone & Michele Mancini & Albachiara Boffelli & Diletta Pegoraro & Ambre Kutten & Irina Balteanu & Javier Quintana, 2024. "Sourcing governance and de-risking strategies in Europe: a comparative study of Germany, Italy and Spain," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 880, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    18. Henry Wai-chung, 2023. "From Regional to Global and Back Again? A Future Agenda for Regional Evolution and (De)Globalized Production Networks in Regional Studies," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2312, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2023.
    19. Gao, Hongzhi & Ren, Monica & Shih, Tsui-Yii, 2023. "Co-evolutions in global decoupling: Learning from the global semiconductor industry," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6).
    20. Victor Cui & Ilan Vertinsky & Yonggui Wang & Dongsheng Zhou, 2023. "Decoupling in international business: The ‘new’ vulnerability of globalization and MNEs’ response strategies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(8), pages 1562-1576, October.
    21. Yipeng Liu, 2024. "Reviving the aspiration, fostering impactful research, and contributing to the sustainable development and societal impact at Asian Business and Management," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 1-8, February.
    22. Liefner Ingo & Li Yingcheng, 2023. "China – International Linkages: Introduction to the Special Issue," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 67(1), pages 1-4, May.
    23. Ren, Monica & Gao, Hongzhi, 2023. "Chinese State-Owned Multinationals' (SOMNEs) Subsidiary nonmarket strategies in Selective De-globalization: An integrated perspective of co-evolution theory and the yin-yang frame," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(6).

    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. Huang, Dongdong & Tsui-Auch, Lai Si & Dieleman, Marleen & Gomulya, David, 2024. "Politically connected EMNCs in a (de)globalising world: A review and future research directions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(3).
    2. Arie Y. Lewin & Michael A. Witt, 2022. "China’s Belt and Road Initiative and international business: The overlooked centrality of politics," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(2), pages 266-275, June.
    3. Fjellström, Daniella & Bai, Wensong & Oliveira, Luis & Fang, Tony, 2023. "Springboard internationalisation in times of geopolitical tensions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6).
    4. ZHANG, Huan & MI, Lili & SHAO, Xuefeng & BU, Juan, 2024. "Demystifying pathways of composition-based international strategies under the de-globalization world: A configurational approach," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2).
    5. Ren, Monica & Gao, Hongzhi, 2023. "Chinese State-Owned Multinationals' (SOMNEs) Subsidiary nonmarket strategies in Selective De-globalization: An integrated perspective of co-evolution theory and the yin-yang frame," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(6).
    6. Justine Kyove & Katerina Streltsova & Ufuoma Odibo & Giuseppe T. Cirella, 2021. "Globalization Impact on Multinational Enterprises," World, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Godinho, Manuel Mira & Simões, Vítor Corado, 2023. "The Tech Cold War: What can we learn from the most dynamic patent classes?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6).
    8. Yamlaksira S. Getachew & Roger Fon & Elie Chrysostome, 2023. "On the location choices of African multinational enterprises: Do supranational economic institutions matter?," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(4), pages 453-490, December.
    9. 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).
    10. Minyoung Kim & Curba Morris Lampert & Raja Roy, 2020. "Regionalization of R&D activities: (Dis)economies of interdependence and inventive performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(7), pages 1054-1075, September.
    11. Michael A. Witt, 2019. "De-globalization: Theories, predictions, and opportunities for international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(7), pages 1053-1077, September.
    12. Jialin Du & Eric Yanfei Zhao, 2023. "International expansion and home-country resource acquisition: A signaling perspective of emerging-market firms’ internationalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(9), pages 1642-1660, December.
    13. Benjamin Rosa & Philippe Gugler & Alain Verbeke, 0. "Regional and global strategies of MNEs: Revisiting Rugman & Verbeke (2004)," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-9.
    14. Gao, Hongzhi & Ren, Monica & Shih, Tsui-Yii, 2023. "Co-evolutions in global decoupling: Learning from the global semiconductor industry," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6).
    15. Benjamin Rosa & Philippe Gugler & Alain Verbeke, 2020. "Regional and global strategies of MNEs: Revisiting Rugman & Verbeke (2004)," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(7), pages 1045-1053, September.
    16. Farok J. Contractor, 2022. "The world economy will need even more globalization in the post-pandemic 2021 decade," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(1), pages 156-171, February.
    17. 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.
    18. Yadong Luo, 2022. "Illusions of techno-nationalism," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(3), pages 550-567, April.
    19. Lingduo Jiang & Guofeng Zhang & Hang Zhang, 2023. "The role of the Belt and Road Initiative: New opportunity for Chinese exporters?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(6), pages 1609-1647, June.
    20. Arie Y Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2020. "Absorptive capacity, socially enabling mechanisms, and the role of learning from trial and error experiments: A tribute to Dan Levinthal’s contribution to international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(9), pages 1568-1579, December.

    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:58:y:2023:i:1:s1090951622000906. 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.