IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0236636.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The degree of internationalization of Chinese Multinationals along the belt and road initiative countries

Author

Listed:
  • Olawoyin Gregory Adedigba
  • Runhui Lin
  • Nizam Ud Din

Abstract

This study assesses the degree of internationalization of Chinese firms along the Belt and Road initiative countries. Most of the extant studies of the Belt and Road initiative have been qualitative, and where there have been quantitative studies, they have usually been at the aggregate level, and only a handful have used firm-level data to study initiative. Using a composite measure of the degree of internationalization, DOIBRI, that composed of variables capturing the performance, structural and attitudinal dimensions of internationalization, comparative analysis of State-owned enterprises and privately owned enterprises turned up counter-intuitive results. Firstly, given that state ownership could be positively associated with the degree of internationalization of firms and because of the significance of the Belt and Road initiative, we expected the State-owned enterprises to dominate the DOIBRIrankings. We assessed the firms, and contrary to expectations, privately owned firms had a higher average degree of internationalization. Furthermore, we expected both state-owned enterprises and privately-owned enterprises to have similar levels of psychic dispersion. However, state-owned enterprises were more psychically dispersed. Suggesting that along the belt and road countries, the advantages of state ownership of Chinese multinationals may be attenuated.

Suggested Citation

  • Olawoyin Gregory Adedigba & Runhui Lin & Nizam Ud Din, 2020. "The degree of internationalization of Chinese Multinationals along the belt and road initiative countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0236636
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236636
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236636
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236636&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0236636?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
    ---><---

    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. Dörrenbächer, Christoph, 2000. "Measuring corporate internationalisation: A review of measurement concepts and their use," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Organization and Employment FS I 00-101, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    3. Erdener, Carolyn & Shapiro, Daniel M., 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Family Enterprises and Dunning's Eclectic MNE Paradigm," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 411-436, November.
    4. Martin Glaum & Michael-Jörg Oesterle, 2007. "40 years of research on internationalization and firm performance: More questions than answers?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 307-317, June.
    5. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 2009. "The Uppsala internationalization process model revisited: From liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(9), pages 1411-1431, December.
    6. Luo, Yadong & Xue, Qiuzhi & Han, Binjie, 2010. "How emerging market governments promote outward FDI: Experience from China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 68-79, January.
    7. Ren, Shengce & Eisingerich, Andreas B. & Tsai, Huei-Ting, 2015. "How do marketing, research and development capabilities, and degree of internationalization synergistically affect the innovation performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? A panel data," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 642-651.
    8. Jean-François Hennart, 2009. "Down with MNE-centric theories! Market entry and expansion as the bundling of MNE and local assets," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(9), pages 1432-1454, December.
    9. Hennart, J.M.A., 2012. "Emerging market multinationals and the theory of the multinational enterprise," Other publications TiSEM 23818daa-f6ed-4fd6-bca4-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    10. Quyen T. K. Nguyen, 2017. "Multinationality and Performance Literature: A Critical Review and Future Research Agenda," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 311-347, June.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Jan-Erik Vahlne & Jan Johanson, 2017. "From internationalization to evolution: The Uppsala model at 40 years," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(9), pages 1087-1102, December.
    14. Pangarkar, Nitin, 2008. "Internationalization and performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 475-485, October.
    15. John Dunning, 2001. "The Eclectic (OLI) Paradigm of International Production: Past, Present and Future," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 173-190.
    16. Du, Julan & Zhang, Yifei, 2018. "Does One Belt One Road initiative promote Chinese overseas direct investment?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 189-205.
    17. 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.
    18. Jiann-jong Guo & Guo-chen Wang & Chien-hung Tung, 2014. "Do China's Outward Direct Investors Prefer Countries with High Political Risk? An International and Empirical Comparison," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 22(6), pages 22-43, November.
    19. Max Boisot & Marshall W. Meyer, 2008. "Which Way through the Open Door? Reflections on the Internationalization of Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 4(3), pages 349-365, November.
    20. Alan M Rugman & Alain Verbeke, 2007. "Liabilities of regional foreignness and the use of firm-level versus country-level data: a response to Dunning et al. (2007)," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(1), pages 200-205, January.
    21. 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.
    22. Boisot, Max & Meyer, Marshall W., 2008. "Which Way through the Open Door? Reflections on the Internationalization of Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 349-365, November.
    23. Daniel Sullivan, 1996. "Measuring the Degree of Internationalization of a firm: A Reply," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(1), pages 179-192, March.
    24. Deng, Ping, 2013. "Chinese Outward Direct Investment Research: Theoretical Integration and Recommendations," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 513-539, November.
    25. Fernanda Arreola & Rodrigo Bandeira-de-Mello, 2018. "The Differential Effects of Minority State Ownership Types on the Internationalization of Emerging Market Multinationals from Democratic States," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 845-869, October.
    26. John Child & Suzana B. Rodrigues, 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?," Management and Organization Review, International Association of Chinese Management Research, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    27. Ajai Gaur & Andrew Delios, 2015. "International Diversification of Emerging Market Firms: The Role of Ownership Structure and Group Affiliation," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 235-253, April.
    28. Robert Fitzgerald & Chris Rowley, 2015. "Japanese multinationals in the post-bubble era: new challenges and evolving capabilities," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 279-294, July.
    29. Rui, Huaichuan & Yip, George S., 2008. "Foreign acquisitions by Chinese firms: A strategic intent perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 213-226, March.
    30. Alan M. Rugman & Alain Verbeke & Quyen T. K. Nguyen, 2011. "Fifty Years of International Business Theory and Beyond," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 755-786, December.
    31. Ping Deng, 2013. "Chinese Outward Direct Investment Research: Theoretical Integration and Recommendations. 通过研究中国对外投资发展理论: 现实与建议," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 9(3), pages 513-539, November.
    32. Rugman, Alan M. & Nguyen, Quyen T. K. & Wei, Ziyi, 2016. "Rethinking the Literature on the Performance of Chinese Multinational Enterprises," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 269-302, June.
    33. Peter J. Buckley & L. Jeremy Clegg & Adam Cross & Xin Liu & Hinrich Voss & Ping Zheng, 2010. "The Determinants of Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Foreign Direct Investment, China and the World Economy, chapter 6, pages 81-118, Palgrave Macmillan.
    34. Kannan Ramaswamy & K Galen Kroeck & William Renforth, 1996. "Measuring the Degree of Internationalization of a firm: A Comment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(1), pages 167-177, March.
    35. Jan Hendrik Fisch & Michael-Jörg Oesterle, 2003. "Exploring The Globalization Of German Mncs With The Complex Spread And Diversity Measure," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 55(1), pages 2-21, January.
    36. A. Hassel & M. Höpner & A. Kurdelbusch & B. Rehder & R. Zugehör, 2003. "Two Dimensions of the Internationalization of Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 705-723, May.
    37. Klaas Sijtsma, 2009. "On the Use, the Misuse, and the Very Limited Usefulness of Cronbach’s Alpha," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 107-120, March.
    38. Michael J. Enright & Venkat Subramanian, 2007. "An organizing framework for MNC subsidiary typologies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 895-924, December.
    39. John H Dunning, 1980. "Towards an Eclectic Theory of International Production: Some Empirical Tests," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 11(1), pages 9-31, March.
    40. Child, John & Rodrigues, Suzana B., 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?1," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    41. A Rebecca Reuber & Eileen Fischer, 1997. "The Influence of the Management Team’s International Experience on the Internationalization Behaviors of SMES," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 28(4), pages 807-825, December.
    42. Wei, Ziyi & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2017. "Subsidiary strategy of emerging market multinationals: A home country institutional perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 1009-1021.
    43. Valentina Marano & Jean-Luc Arregle & Michael Hitt & Ettore Spadafora & Marc van Essen, 2016. "Home Country Institutions and the Internationalization-Performance Relationship : A Meta-Analytic Review," Post-Print hal-02313365, HAL.
    44. Martin Hemmert & Keith Jackson, 2016. "Is there an East Asian model of MNC internationalization? A comparative analysis of Japanese and Korean firms," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 567-594, October.
    45. Zhai, Fan, 2018. "China’s belt and road initiative: A preliminary quantitative assessment," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 84-92.
    46. Bersant Hobdari & Aleksandra Gregoric & Evis Sinani, 2011. "The role of firm ownership on internationalization: evidence from two transition economies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(3), pages 393-413, August.
    47. Peter J. Buckley, 2010. "Foreign Direct Investment, China and the World Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-24832-8.
    48. Carolyn Erdener & Daniel M. Shapiro, 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Family Enterprises and Dunning's Eclectic MNE Paradigm," Management and Organization Review, International Association of Chinese Management Research, vol. 1(3), pages 411-436, November.
    49. Hai Yue Liu & Ying Kai Tang & Xiao Lan Chen & Joanna Poznanska, 2017. "The Determinants of Chinese Outward FDI in Countries Along “One Belt One Road”," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(6), pages 1374-1387, June.
    50. Lili Kang & Fei Peng & Yu Zhu & An Pan, 2018. "Harmony in Diversity: Can the One Belt One Road Initiative Promote China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-28, 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. Sengupta, Aditi Sarkar & Kleindienst, Ingo & Hutzschenreuter, Thomas, 2023. "Heterogenous internationalization processes of emerging economy MNEs: A review and research agenda," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    2. Rekha Rao-Nicholson & Catherine Cai, 2020. "The effects of ownership identity on corporate diversification strategy of Chinese companies in foreign markets," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 91-126, March.
    3. Weilei (Stone) Shi & Sunny Li Sun & Daying Yan & Zhu Zhu, 2017. "Institutional fragility and outward foreign direct investment from China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(4), pages 452-476, May.
    4. Ajai S Gaur & Xufei Ma & Zhujun Ding, 2018. "Home country supportiveness/unfavorableness and outward foreign direct investment from China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(3), pages 324-345, April.
    5. Wei, Ziyi & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2017. "Subsidiary strategy of emerging market multinationals: A home country institutional perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 1009-1021.
    6. Nguyen, Quyen T.K. & Kim, Sylvia, 2020. "The multinationality and performance relationship: Revisiting the literature and exploring the implications," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    7. Buckley, Peter J. & Munjal, Surender & Enderwick, Peter & Forsans, Nicolas, 2016. "Cross-border acquisitions by Indian multinationals: Asset exploitation or asset augmentation?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 986-996.
    8. Fu, Xiaolan & Hou, Jun & Liu, Xiaohui, 2018. "Unpacking the Relationship between Outward Direct Investment and Innovation Performance: Evidence from Chinese firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 111-123.
    9. Anderson, John & Sutherland, Dylan & Severe, Sean, 2015. "An event study of home and host country patent generation in Chinese MNEs undertaking strategic asset acquisitions in developed markets," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 758-771.
    10. Luo, Yadong & Maksimov, Vladislav & Bu, Juan, 2021. "Making Geographic Dispersion Work for Emerging Market MNEs," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(3).
    11. Cui, Lin & Meyer, Klaus E. & Hu, Helen Wei, 2014. "What drives firms’ intent to seek strategic assets by foreign direct investment? A study of emerging economy firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 488-501.
    12. Dirk Holtbrügge & Sue Claire Berning, 2018. "Market Entry Strategies and Performance of Chinese Firms in Germany: The Moderating Effect of Home Government Support," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 147-170, February.
    13. 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.
    14. Shi, Xinwei & Sutherland, Dylan & Williams, Christopher & Rong, Ke, 2021. "Chinese MNE acquisition of unrelated foreign businesses: The role of diversified business group affiliation, private ownership and strategic asset seeking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 145-156.
    15. Zhang, Hongjuan & Young, Michael N. & Tan, Justin & Sun, Weizheng, 2018. "How Chinese companies deal with a legitimacy imbalance when acquiring firms from developed economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 752-767.
    16. Gammeltoft, Peter & Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro, 2021. "Enriching internationalization process theory: insights from the study of emerging market multinationals," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(3).
    17. Sun, Sunny Li & Peng, Mike W. & Lee, Ruby P. & Tan, Weiqiang, 2015. "Institutional open access at home and outward internationalization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 234-246.
    18. Lu, Jiangyong & Liu, Xiaohui & Filatotchev, Igor & Wright, Mike, 2014. "The impact of domestic diversification and top management teams on the international diversification of Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 455-467.
    19. Ilan Alon & John Anderson & Ziaul Haque Munim & Alice Ho, 2018. "A review of the internationalization of Chinese enterprises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 573-605, September.
    20. Lin, Yue, 2015. "Firm heterogeneity and location choice of Chinese firms in Latin America and the Caribbean: Corporate ownership, strategic motives and host country institutions," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 274-292.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0236636. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.