Raising or folding the bet? Institutional dynamics, family involvement, and the mixed gamble of internationalization

• Published in: Thunderbird international business review Vol. 64; no. 4; pp. 301 - 315
• Main Authors: Banalieva, Elitsa R., Eddleston, Kimberly A., Jiang, Joy Ruihua, Santoro, Michael D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01-07-2022; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: change in internationalization scale; China; Companies; developing economies; dynamic institution‐based view; Families & family life; family involvement; Globalization; Institutional change; mixed gamble of internationalization; Reforms; speed of reforms; speed of reversals; Wealth
• ISSN: 1096-4762; 1520-6874
• DOI: 10.1002/tie.22275

Recognizing that developing economies experience various speeds of reforms and reversals, we investigate how such dynamic institutional changes influence whether firms continue expanding or begin receding from abroad, after having already internationalized. In so doing, we extend the mixed gamble perspective by showing how external institutions impact firms' mixed gamble calculus, and especially that of family versus nonfamily firms. As a result of firms' assessment of potential gains and losses in current versus prospective wealth, the speed of reforms increases while the speed of reversals decreases firms' internationalization scale. These asymmetric effects are further attenuated for firms with higher levels of family involvement.