IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iburev/v27y2018i1p259-268.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Addressing the cross-boundary missing link between corporate political activities and firm competencies: The mediating role of institutional capital

Author

Listed:
  • Gao, Yu
  • Yang, Zhuoer
  • Huang, Kuo-Feng
  • Gao, Shanxing
  • Yang, Wei

Abstract

This study examines the mediating effect of institutional capital on the relationship between corporate political activities (CPA) and firm competencies. By adopting an institutional perspective, we identify the influence of a firm’s relational CPA and participation CPA, and its two types of institutional capitals, formal institutional capital (FIC) and informal institutional capital (IIC), on the firm’s competencies. Based on survey data from multi-informants in 303 Chinese firms, our results suggest that firms’ institutional capital (IIC/FIC) partially/fully mediates the relationship between CPA and firm competencies. The findings provide the evidence that how nonmarket strategy, such as corporate political activities, affects a firm’s institutional capital and then its competencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Yu & Yang, Zhuoer & Huang, Kuo-Feng & Gao, Shanxing & Yang, Wei, 2018. "Addressing the cross-boundary missing link between corporate political activities and firm competencies: The mediating role of institutional capital," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 259-268.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:27:y:2018:i:1:p:259-268
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2017.07.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593117305607
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2017.07.006?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. Seung Ho Park & Yadong Luo, 2001. "Guanxi and organizational dynamics: organizational networking in Chinese firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 455-477, May.
    2. Douglass C. North, 1990. "A Transaction Cost Theory of Politics," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 2(4), pages 355-367, October.
    3. Ahlstrom, David & Bruton, Garry D. & Yeh, Kuang S., 2008. "Private firms in China: Building legitimacy in an emerging economy," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 385-399, October.
    4. Jürgen Huber & Michael Kirchler, 2013. "Corporate campaign contributions and abnormal stock returns after presidential elections," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 285-307, July.
    5. Lawton, Thomas & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Doh, Jonathan, 2013. "The antecedents of political capabilities: A study of ownership, cross-border activity and organization at legacy airlines in a deregulatory context," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 228-242.
    6. Yuan Lu & Lianxi Zhou & Garry Bruton & Weiwen Li, 2010. "Capabilities as a mediator linking resources and the international performance of entrepreneurial firms in an emerging economy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(3), pages 419-436, April.
    7. Rajwani, Tazeeb & Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele, 2015. "Political activity and firm performance within nonmarket research: A review and international comparative assessment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 273-283.
    8. Gideon D. Markman & Donald S. Siegel & Mike Wright, 2008. "Research and Technology Commercialization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(8), pages 1401-1423, December.
    9. Mike W Peng & Denis Y L Wang & Yi Jiang, 2008. "An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(5), pages 920-936, July.
    10. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Wöcke, Albert & Moodley, Terence, 2015. "Corporate political strategy and liability of foreignness: Similarities and differences between local and foreign firms in the South African Health Sector," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 700-709.
    12. De Villa, Maria A. & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Lawton, Thomas, 2015. "Market entry modes in a multipolar world: Untangling the moderating effect of the political environment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 419-429.
    13. Amy J. Hillman & Asghar Zardkoohi & Leonard Bierman, 1999. "Corporate political strategies and firm performance: indications of firm‐specific benefits from personal service in the U.S. government," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 67-81, January.
    14. Shirodkar, Vikrant & Mohr, Alexander T., 2015. "Explaining foreign firms’ approaches to corporate political activity in emerging economies: The effects of resource criticality, product diversification, inter-subsidiary integration, and business tie," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 567-579.
    15. David L. Deephouse & Suzanne M. Carter, 2005. "An Examination of Differences Between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 329-360, March.
    16. Kevin Zheng Zhou & Fang Wu, 2010. "Technological capability, strategic flexibility, and product innovation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 547-561, May.
    17. Guo, Hai & Xu, Erming & Jacobs, Mark, 2014. "Managerial political ties and firm performance during institutional transitions: An analysis of mediating mechanisms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 116-127.
    18. Kai Xu & Kuo-Feng Huang & Shanxing Gao, 2012. "The effect of institutional ties on knowledge acquisition in uncertain environments," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 387-408, June.
    19. Avinash K. Dixit, 1998. "The Making of Economic Policy: A Transaction Cost Politics Perspective," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262540983, December.
    20. Thomas Lawton & Steven Mcguire & Tazeeb Rajwani, 2013. "Corporate Political Activity : A Literature Review and Research Agenda," Post-Print hal-02312913, HAL.
    21. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    22. Yadong Luo, 2003. "Industrial dynamics and managerial networking in an emerging market: the case of China," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(13), pages 1315-1327, December.
    23. Boubakri, Narjess & Guedhami, Omrane & Mishra, Dev & Saffar, Walid, 2012. "Political connections and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 541-559.
    24. Gao, Yu & Gao, Shanxing & Zhou, Yunyue & Huang, Kuo-Feng, 2015. "Picturing firms' institutional capital-based radical innovation under China's institutional voids," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1166-1175.
    25. Yaqun Yi & Yi Liu & Hong He & Yuan Li, 2012. "Environment, governance, controls, and radical innovation during institutional transitions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 689-708, September.
    26. Kollmer, Holger & Dowling, Michael, 2004. "Licensing as a commercialisation strategy for new technology-based firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1141-1151, October.
    27. de Figueiredo, John M & Silverman, Brian S, 2006. "Academic Earmarks and the Returns to Lobbying," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(2), pages 597-625, October.
    28. Murray L. Weidenbaum, 1980. "The Changing Nature of Government Regulation of Business," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 345-357, April.
    29. Chen, Chung-Jen, 2009. "Technology commercialization, incubator and venture capital, and new venture performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 93-103, January.
    30. Pei Sun & Kamel Mellahi & Eric Thun, 2010. "The dynamic value of MNE political embeddedness: The case of the Chinese automobile industry," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(7), pages 1161-1182, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zahoor, Nadia & Al-Tabbaa, Omar, 2021. "Post-entry internationalization speed of SMEs: The role of relational mechanisms and foreign market knowledge," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1).
    2. Mazé, Dominique & Chailan, Claude, 2021. "A South-South perspective on emerging economy companies and institutional coevolution: An empirical study of Chinese multinationals in Africa," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    3. Luis Alfonso Dau & Aya S. Chacar & Marjorie A. Lyles & Jiatao Li, 2022. "Informal institutions and international business: Toward an integrative research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 985-1010, August.
    4. Donbesuur, Francis & Zahoor, Nadia & Al-Tabbaa, Omar & Adomako, Samuel & Tarba, Shlomo Y., 2023. "On the performance of platform-based international new ventures: The roles of non-market strategies and managerial competencies," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    5. Banerjee, Shantanu & Venaik, Sunil & Brewer, Paul, 2019. "Analysing corporate political activity in MNC subsidiaries through the integration-responsiveness framework," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 1-1.
    6. Yu Gao & Xiuyun Yang & Shuangyan Li, 2022. "Government Supports, Digital Capability, and Organizational Resilience Capacity during COVID-19: The Moderation Role of Organizational Unlearning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, August.
    7. Adomako, Samuel & Abdelgawad, Sondos G. & Ahsan, Mujtaba & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Azaaviele Liedong, Tahiru, 2023. "Nonmarket strategy in emerging markets: The link between SMEs’ corporate political activity, corporate social responsibility, and firm competitiveness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    8. Amrita Saha & Vikrant Shirodkar & Thomas C. Lawton, 2023. "Bimodal lobbying and trade policy outcomes: Evidence from corporate political activity under uncertainty in India," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 24-46, March.

    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. Banerjee, Shantanu & Venaik, Sunil & Brewer, Paul, 2019. "Analysing corporate political activity in MNC subsidiaries through the integration-responsiveness framework," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 1-1.
    2. Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong & Daniel Aghanya & Tazeeb Rajwani, 2020. "Corporate Political Strategies in Weak Institutional Environments: A Break from Conventions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(4), pages 855-876, February.
    3. Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong & Jedrzej George Frynas, 2018. "Investment Climate Constraints as Determinants of Political Tie Intensity in Emerging Countries: Evidence from Foreign Firms in Ghana," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 675-703, October.
    4. Shantanu Banerjee & Sunil Venaik, 2018. "The Effect of Corporate Political Activity on MNC Subsidiary Legitimacy: An Institutional Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 813-844, October.
    5. Rajwani, Tazeeb & Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele, 2015. "Political activity and firm performance within nonmarket research: A review and international comparative assessment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 273-283.
    6. Guo, Hai & Xu, Erming & Jacobs, Mark, 2014. "Managerial political ties and firm performance during institutional transitions: An analysis of mediating mechanisms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 116-127.
    7. Adomako, Samuel & Abdelgawad, Sondos G. & Ahsan, Mujtaba & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Azaaviele Liedong, Tahiru, 2023. "Nonmarket strategy in emerging markets: The link between SMEs’ corporate political activity, corporate social responsibility, and firm competitiveness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    8. Ziad F. Elsahn & Maureen Benson-Rea, 2018. "Political Schemas and Corporate Political Activities During Foreign Market Entry: A Micro-process Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 771-811, October.
    9. Gao, Yu & Gao, Shanxing & Zhou, Yunyue & Huang, Kuo-Feng, 2015. "Picturing firms' institutional capital-based radical innovation under China's institutional voids," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1166-1175.
    10. George O. White & Jean J. Boddewyn & Tazeeb Rajwani & Thomas A. Hemphill, 2018. "Regulator Vulnerabilities to Political Pressures and Political Tie Intensity: The Moderating Effects of Regulatory and Political Distance," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 743-769, October.
    11. Mbalyohere, Charles & Lawton, Thomas & Boojihawon, Roshan & Viney, Howard, 2017. "Corporate political activity and location-based advantage: MNE responses to institutional transformation in Uganda’s electricity industry," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(6), pages 743-759.
    12. Dan Li & Li-Qun Wei & Qing Cao & Deqiu Chen, 2022. "Informal institutions, entrepreneurs’ political participation, and venture internationalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 1062-1090, August.
    13. Jonas Puck & Thomas Lawton & Alexander Mohr, 2018. "The Corporate Political Activity of MNCs: Taking Stock and Moving Forward," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 663-673, October.
    14. Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Lawton, Thomas C., 2020. "Information and nonmarket strategy: Conceptualizing the interrelationship between big data and corporate political activity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    15. Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong, 2022. "The Liability of Tribe in Corporate Political Activity: Ethical Implications for Political Contestability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(3), pages 623-644, December.
    16. Thomas Wrona & Corinna Sinzig, 2018. "Nonmarket strategy research: systematic literature review and future directions," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 253-317, February.
    17. White, George O. & Fainshmidt, Stav & Rajwani, Tazeeb, 2018. "Antecedents and Outcomes of Political Tie Intensity: Institutional and Strategic Fit Perspectives," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 1-15.
    18. Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong, 2021. "Responsible Firm Behaviour in Political Markets: Judging the Ethicality of Corporate Political Activity in Weak Institutional Environments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(2), pages 325-345, August.
    19. Shirodkar, Vikrant & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Stadler, Christian & Hautz, Julia & Mayer, Michael C.J., 2022. "Corporate Political Activity and Firm Performance: The Moderating Effects of International and Product Diversification," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4).
    20. Mbalyohere, Charles & Lawton, Thomas C., 2022. "Engaging informal institutions through corporate political activity: Capabilities for subnational embeddedness in emerging economies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2).

    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:eee:iburev:v:27:y:2018:i:1:p:259-268. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/133/description#description .

    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.