The internationalization of emerging market multinationals : effects of host and home country institutional factors

The globalization of the world's economies has sparked an increasing number of studies on firms' internationalization. In recent decades, multinational corporations (MNCs) from emerging market economies, many of which lack firm-specific advantages (FSAs), have expanded rapidly in international markets. The expansion of emerging market mul¬tinational corporations (EMMNCs) has attracted much interest from scholars in the international business field. The leading theories of inter¬nationalization, including the transaction cost perspective, the ownership, location and internalization (OLI) framework, and the knowledge development process model, are largely based on studies of firms from developed economies and emphasize FSAs and the gradual process of knowledge development. These theories are inadequate for explain¬ing the internationalization strategies of firms from less developed countries. The expansion of EMMNCs offers a unique opportunity for theoretical development and empirical study of the factors that drive the internationalization of firms.