Heterogenous internationalization processes of emerging economy MNEs: A review and research agenda

The internationalization of emerging economy MNEs (EEMNEs) is a major topic in international business (IB) research. IB scholars testing the applicability of existing internationalization theories to EEMNEs, or developing new EEMNE theories, have failed to explain that the heterogeneity in EEMNE internationalization is due to their being based in different countries, being active in different industries, and having different resource endowments. With these differences investigated mostly in isolation, the research to date has been fragmented. We take a more holistic view. Our paper synthesizes the literature to show that heterogeneity in EEMNE internationalization processes are due to the interaction between country, industry, and firm and this allows us to explain the “where,” “how,” “when,” and “how much” of it. We use a top-down approach, that is, how macro-level and industry factors impact firm-level ones. We disentangle studies on home-country, industry, and firm-level antecedents to internationalization, which yields rich insights. We develop an integrative framework that identifies the antecedents of EEMNE internationalization and their interrelationships. We then use the framework to review and summarize past research, outlining gaps and contradictions, and most importantly, we present crucial findings. Finally, we propose research questions that we believe will advance the EEMNE internationalization field.