IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jintbs/v50y2019i5d10.1057_s41267-018-00208-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Varieties of capitalism and the internationalization of state-owned enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Sergio Mariotti

    (DIG - Politecnico di Milano)

  • Riccardo Marzano

    (DIAG - Sapienza Università di Roma)

Abstract

This article sheds light on how the internationalization of state-owned enterprises is influenced by the state involvement in ownership and by the home country’s institutional settings. Integrating international business literature with the debate on the varieties of capitalism, we contend that state-dominated enterprises internationalize more (less) than privately owned enterprises in coordinated (liberal) market economies, whereas they exhibit an inconstant behavior in state-influenced market economies. Our analysis on a sample of enterprises pertaining to 20 OECD countries supports our hypotheses. This article adds to studies on the influence of institutions on firms’ internationalization and has implications for both managers and policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio Mariotti & Riccardo Marzano, 2019. "Varieties of capitalism and the internationalization of state-owned enterprises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(5), pages 669-691, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:50:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1057_s41267-018-00208-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41267-018-00208-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41267-018-00208-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41267-018-00208-2?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. Estrin, Saul & Meyer, Klaus E. & Nielsen, Bo B. & Nielsen, Sabina, 2016. "Home country institutions and the internationalization of state owned enterprises: A cross-country analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 294-307.
    2. Jun Xia & Xufei Ma & Jane W. Lu & Daphne W. Yiu, 2014. "Outward foreign direct investment by emerging market firms: A resource dependence logic," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9), pages 1343-1363, September.
    3. Birgitte Grøgaard & Carmine Gioia & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2013. "An Empirical Investigation of the Role of Industry Factors in the Internationalization Patterns of Firms," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 81-100, January.
    4. Boardman, Anthony E & Vining, Aidan R, 1989. "Ownership and Performance in Competitive Environments: A Comparison of the Performance of Private, Mixed, and State-Owned Enterprises," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 1-33, April.
    5. Robert E. Hoskisson & Mike Wright & Igor Filatotchev & Mike W. Peng, 2013. "Emerging Multinationals from Mid-Range Economies: The Influence of Institutions and Factor Markets," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(7), pages 1295-1321, November.
    6. A Erin Bass & Subrata Chakrabarty, 2014. "Resource security: Competition for global resources, strategic intent, and governments as owners," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(8), pages 961-979, October.
    7. Bai, Chong-En & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2005. "Incentives for CEOs with multitasks: Evidence from Chinese state-owned enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 517-539, September.
    8. Jing-Lin Duanmu, 2014. "State-owned MNCs and host country expropriation risk: The role of home state soft power and economic gunboat diplomacy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(8), pages 1044-1060, October.
    9. López-de-Silanes, Florencio & Serra, Pablo & Gertler, Paul & Schargrodsky, Ernesto & Anuatti, Francisco & Galiani, Sebastián & Chong, Alberto E. & Pombo, Carlos & Sturzenegger, Federico & Torero, Máxi, 2005. "Privatization in Latin America: Myths and Reality," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 348, November.
    10. Stefanie Ann Lenway & Thomas P Murtha, 1994. "The State as Strategist in International Business Research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(3), pages 513-535, September.
    11. Daniel Sullivan, 1994. "Measuring the Degree of Internationalization of a Firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(2), pages 325-342, June.
    12. Stephen R. Bond, 2002. "Dynamic panel data models: a guide to micro data methods and practice," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 1(2), pages 141-162, August.
    13. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    14. Karolyi, G. Andrew & Liao, Rose C., 2017. "State capitalism's global reach: Evidence from foreign acquisitions by state-owned companies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 367-391.
    15. Alberto Chong & Florencio López-de-Silanes, 2005. "Privatization in Latin America : Myths and Reality," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 7461, September.
      • Florencio López-de-Silanes & Pablo Serra & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky & Francisco Anuatti & Sebastián Galiani & Alberto E. Chong & Carlos Pombo & Federico Sturzenegger & Máximo Torero & Carlo, 2005. "Privatization in Latin America: Myths and Reality," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 59618 edited by Florencio López-de-Silanes & Alberto E. Chong, February.
    16. Bernardo Bortolotti & Mara Faccio, 2009. "Government Control of Privatized Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(8), pages 2907-2939, August.
    17. Renato Mazzolini, 1980. "The international strategy of state‐owned firms: An organizational process and politics perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(2), pages 101-118, April.
    18. David Scharfstein, 1988. "The Disciplinary Role of Takeovers," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 55(2), pages 185-199.
    19. Marzano, Riccardo, 2015. "One more ride on the merry-go-round! Public ownership and delayed competition in local public services," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 981-996.
    20. Thomas, Steve, 2006. "The British Model in Britain: Failing slowly," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 583-600, March.
    21. I. Serdar Dinc & Nandini Gupta, 2011. "The Decision to Privatize: Finance and Politics," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 241-269, February.
    22. Hao Liang & Bing Ren & Sunny Li Sun, 2015. "An anatomy of state control in the globalization of state-owned enterprises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(2), pages 223-240, February.
    23. Bruno Biais & Enrico Perotti, 2002. "Machiavellian Privatization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 240-258, March.
    24. Bernardo Bortolotti & Paolo Pinotti, 2008. "Delayed privatization," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 331-351, September.
    25. Rafael La Porta & Florencio López-de-Silanes, 1999. "The Benefits of Privatization: Evidence from Mexico," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(4), pages 1193-1242.
    26. Dore, Ronald, 2000. "Stock Market Capitalism: Welfare Capitalism: Japan and Germany versus the Anglo-Saxons," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199240616.
    27. Mueller,Dennis C., 2003. "Public Choice III," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521894753, September.
    28. Knutsen Carl Henrik & Rygh Asmund & Hveem Helge, 2011. "Does State Ownership Matter? Institutions' Effect on Foreign Direct Investment Revisited," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(1), pages 1-33, April.
    29. Stephen Bond, 2002. "Dynamic panel data models: a guide to microdata methods and practice," CeMMAP working papers CWP09/02, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    30. Lin Cui & Fuming Jiang, 2012. "State ownership effect on firms' FDI ownership decisions under institutional pressure: a study of Chinese outward-investing firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(3), pages 264-284, April.
    31. Peter J Buckley & L Jeremy Clegg & Adam R Cross & Xin Liu & Hinrich Voss & Ping Zheng, 2007. "The determinants of Chinese outward foreign direct investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 499-518, July.
    32. Boycko, Maxim & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1996. "A Theory of Privatisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(435), pages 309-319, March.
    33. Pollitt, Michael G., 2012. "The role of policy in energy transitions: Lessons from the energy liberalisation era," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 128-137.
    34. John Vickers & George Yarrow, 1991. "Economic Perspectives on Privatization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 111-132, Spring.
    35. Gregory Jackson & Richard Deeg, 2008. "Comparing capitalisms: understanding institutional diversity and its implications for international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(4), pages 540-561, June.
    36. Yigang Pan & Lefa Teng & Atipol Bhanich Supapol & Xiongwen Lu & Dan Huang & Zhennan Wang, 2014. "Firms’ FDI ownership: The influence of government ownership and legislative connections," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(8), pages 1029-1043, October.
    37. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    38. Mara Faccio, 2006. "Politically Connected Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 369-386, March.
    39. Torben Pedersen & Steen Thomsen, 1997. "European Patterns of Corporate Ownership: A Twelve-Country Study," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 28(4), pages 759-778, December.
    40. Klaus E Meyer & Yuan Ding & Jing Li & Hua Zhang, 2014. "Overcoming distrust: How state-owned enterprises adapt their foreign entries to institutional pressures abroad," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(8), pages 1005-1028, October.
    41. Michael A. Witt & Gregory Jackson, 2016. "Varieties of Capitalism and institutional comparative advantage: A test and reinterpretation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(7), pages 778-806, September.
    42. repec:idb:brikps:59618 is not listed on IDEAS
    43. Chari, Anusha & Gupta, Nandini, 2008. "Incumbents and protectionism: The political economy of foreign entry liberalization," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 633-656, June.
    44. Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Rygh, Asmund & Hveem, Helge, 2011. "Does State Ownership Matter? Institutions' Effect on Foreign Direct Investment Revisited," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 1-31, April.
    45. Ciprian Stan & Mike Peng & Garry Bruton, 2014. "Slack and the performance of state-owned enterprises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 473-495, June.
    46. Chengqi Wang & Junjie Hong & Mario Kafouros & Mike Wright, 2012. "Exploring the role of government involvement in outward FDI from emerging economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(7), pages 655-676, September.
    47. Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra & Andrew Inkpen & Aldo Musacchio & Kannan Ramaswamy, 2014. "Governments as owners: State-owned multinational companies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(8), pages 919-942, October.
    48. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    49. Bismut, Sophie, 2006. "Competition in European Telecom Markets," MPRA Paper 3567, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    50. Ming Hua Li & Lin Cui & Jiangyong Lu, 2014. "Varieties in state capitalism: Outward FDI strategies of central and local state-owned enterprises from emerging economy countries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(8), pages 980-1004, October.
    51. Judith Clifton & Francisco Com�n & Daniel D�az-Fuentes, 2011. "From national monopoly to multinational corporation: How regulation shaped the road towards telecommunications internationalisation," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 761-781, August.
    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. 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.
    2. Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro & Li, Cheng, 2021. "State ownership and internationalization: The advantage and disadvantage of stateness," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    3. Andrei Panibratov & Daria Klishevich, 2023. "Emerging market state-owned multinationals: a review and implications for the state capitalism debate," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 84-117, February.
    4. Cheung, Zeerim & Aalto, Eero & Nevalainen, Pasi, 2020. "Institutional Logics and the Internationalization of a State-Owned Enterprise: Evaluation of International Venture Opportunities by Telecom Finland 1987–1998," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).
    5. Deng, Ziliang & Yan, Jiayan & van Essen, Marc, 2018. "Heterogeneity of political connections and outward foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 893-903.
    6. Birgitte Grøgaard & Asmund Rygh & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2019. "Bringing corporate governance into internalization theory: State ownership and foreign entry strategies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(8), pages 1310-1337, October.
    7. Götz Marta & Jankowska Barbara, 2016. "Internationalization by State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) after the 2008 Crisis. Looking for Generalizations," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 50(1), pages 63-81, June.
    8. Mike W. Peng & Garry D. Bruton & Ciprian V. Stan & Yuanyuan Huang, 2016. "Theories of the (state-owned) firm," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 293-317, June.
    9. 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.
    10. Li, Jing & Xia, Jun & Shapiro, Daniel & Lin, Zhouyu, 2018. "Institutional compatibility and the internationalization of Chinese SOEs: The moderating role of home subnational institutions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 641-652.
    11. Panicker, Vidya Sukumara & Upadhyayula, Rajesh Srinivas & Sivakumar, Sandeep, 2022. "Internationalization of hybrid state-owned enterprises from emerging markets: Institutional investors as enablers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 409-422.
    12. Ren, Monica & Manning, Stephan & Vavilov, Stanislav, 2019. "Does state ownership really matter? The dynamic alignment of China's resource environment and firm internationalization strategies," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 1-1.
    13. Estrin, Saul & Meyer, Klaus E. & Nielsen, Bo B. & Nielsen, Sabina, 2016. "Home country institutions and the internationalization of state owned enterprises: A cross-country analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 294-307.
    14. Bai, Tao & Chen, Stephen & Xu, Youzong, 2021. "Formal and informal influences of the state on OFDI of hybrid state-owned enterprises in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5).
    15. Yuanyuan Huang & Lu Shen & Chuang Zhang, 2022. "Home-country government support, the belt and road initiative, and the foreign performance of Chinese state-owned subsidiaries," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 1023-1049, September.
    16. Kari Liuhto, 2018. "A Lesson from two Failed Foreign Investments: the Foreign (Ad)Venture of two Finnish State-Owned Enterprises," Outlines of global transformations: politics, economics, law, Center for Crisis Society Studies, vol. 11(1).
    17. Asmund Rygh & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2022. "Governmental goals and the international strategies of state-owned multinational enterprises: a conceptual discussion," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(4), pages 1155-1181, December.
    18. Huang, Yuanyuan & Xie, En & Li, Yu & Reddy, K.S., 2017. "Does state ownership facilitate outward FDI of Chinese SOEs? Institutional development, market competition, and the logic of interdependence between governments and SOEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 176-188.
    19. Grazia D. Santangelo & Pavlos C. Symeou, 2024. "The internationalization of state-owned enterprises in liberalized markets: the role of home-country pro-market reforms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(5), pages 638-651, July.
    20. Hu, Tianyou & Yu, Shu & Delios, Andrew, 2024. "Extradition treaties and emerging market firms’ host country location choice✰," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(4).

    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:pal:jintbs:v:50:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1057_s41267-018-00208-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.