IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v168y2023ics0148296323005726.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Should I stay or should I go? The influence of managerial self-interest on foreign exit decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Tan, Qun
  • Sousa, Carlos M.P.

Abstract

Based on the agency theory and the social exchange theory, this study investigates how foreign affiliate (FA) managers can utilise two mechanisms that the principal adopts to deal with the agency problem of influencing the foreign divestment/non-divestment decision of the headquarters (HQ). Specifically, we examine whether and under which conditions FA managers’ self-interest affects the decision of the HQ to divest a foreign market. Using secondary and primary data collected from multiple informants in Chinese firms engaged in outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), we find that although the FA managers’ self-interest has no direct impact on the HQ’s foreign divestment decision, the HQ is less likely to divest the foreign market when the FA manager holds a high level of trust in the HQ. Furthermore, when the FA is locally embedded in the foreign host market, the manager’s self-interest has the strongest negative impact on the HQ’s foreign divestment decision.

Suggested Citation

  • Tan, Qun & Sousa, Carlos M.P., 2023. "Should I stay or should I go? The influence of managerial self-interest on foreign exit decisions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:168:y:2023:i:c:s0148296323005726
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114213
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296323005726
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114213?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. Luis Filipe Lages & Sandy D Jap & David A Griffith, 2008. "The role of past performance in export ventures: a short-term reactive approach," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(2), pages 304-325, March.
    2. Richard I. Harris & Qian Cher Li, 2011. "The Determinants of Firm Exit from Exporting: Evidence for the UK," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 381-397, November.
    3. Chris Changwha Chung & Seung-Hyun Lee & Jeoung-Yul Lee, 2013. "Dual-Option Subsidiaries and Exit Decisions During Times of Economic Crisis," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 555-577, August.
    4. Ulf Andersson & Mats Forsgren & Ulf Holm, 2007. "Balancing subsidiary influence in the federative MNC: a business network view," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(5), pages 802-818, September.
    5. Nguyen, Ha Thi Thu & Larimo, Jorma & Ghauri, Pervez, 2022. "Understanding foreign divestment: The impacts of economic and political friction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 675-691.
    6. Qun Tan & Carlos M. P. Sousa, 2019. "Why Poor Performance is Not Enough for a Foreign Exit: The Importance of Innovation Capability and International Experience," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 465-498, June.
    7. Ryan W. Tang & Ying Zhu & Hongbo Cai & Jinrong Han, 2021. "De-internationalization: A Thematic Review and the Directions Forward," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 267-312, June.
    8. Pamela Tremain Koch & Bradley Koch & Tanya Menon & Oded Shenkar, 2016. "Cultural friction in leadership beliefs and foreign-invested enterprise survival," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(4), pages 453-470, May.
    9. Li Dai & Lorraine Eden & Paul W Beamish, 2013. "Place, space, and geographical exposure: Foreign subsidiary survival in conflict zones," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(6), pages 554-578, August.
    10. M Krishna Erramilli, 1996. "Nationality and Subsidiary Ownership Patterns in Multinational Corporations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(2), pages 225-248, June.
    11. Konara, Palitha & Ganotakis, Panagiotis, 2020. "Firm-specific resources and foreign divestments via selloffs: Value is in the eye of the beholder," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 423-434.
    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. Sousa, Carlos M.P. & He, Xinming & Lengler, Jorge & Tang, Linhan, 2021. "Foreign market re-entry: A review and future research directions," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(2).
    2. Ha Nguyen & Jorma Larimo & Douglas Dow, 2024. "The Curvilinear Impact of Cultural Friction on Foreign Divestment," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 199-244, April.
    3. Qun Tan & Carlos M. P. Sousa, 2019. "Why Poor Performance is Not Enough for a Foreign Exit: The Importance of Innovation Capability and International Experience," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 465-498, June.
    4. Ryan W. Tang & Ying Zhu & Hongbo Cai & Jinrong Han, 2021. "De-internationalization: A Thematic Review and the Directions Forward," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 267-312, June.
    5. Danchi Tan & Weichieh Su & Joseph T. Mahoney & Yasemin Kor, 2020. "A review of research on the growth of multinational enterprises: A Penrosean lens," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 498-537, June.
    6. Wu, Sihong & Chirico, Francesco & Fan, Di & Ding, Jiayan & Su, Yiyi, 2024. "Foreign market exit in family firms: Do historical military and cultural frictions matter?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(1).
    7. Li Dai & Lorraine Eden & Paul W. Beamish, 2023. "The timing and mode of foreign exit from conflict zones: A behavioral perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(6), pages 1090-1104, August.
    8. Nguyen, Ha Thi Thu & Larimo, Jorma & Ghauri, Pervez, 2022. "Understanding foreign divestment: The impacts of economic and political friction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 675-691.
    9. Luíza Neves Marques Fonseca & Angela Rocha, 2023. "Setbacks, interruptions and turnarounds in the internationalization process: a bibliometric and literature review of de-internationalization," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 1351-1384, September.
    10. Ancarani, Alessandro & Ardito, Lorenzo & Di Mauro, Carmela & Petruzzelli, Antonio Messeni, 2024. "Back-shoring vs. Offshoring: The importance of innovating with host-country inventors," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(6).
    11. Schmid, David & Morschett, Dirk, 2020. "Decades of research on foreign subsidiary divestment: What do we really know about its antecedents?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    12. Ozkan, Kubilay S.L., 2020. "International market exit by firms: Misalignment of strategy with the foreign market risk environment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(6).
    13. Tang, Ryan W., 2023. "Institutional unpredictability and foreign exit−reentry dynamics: The moderating role of foreign ownership," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    14. Klaus E. Meyer & Chengguang Li & Andreas P. J. Schotter, 0. "Managing the MNE subsidiary: Advancing a multi-level and dynamic research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-39.
    15. Najafi-Tavani, Zhaleh & Robson, Matthew J. & Zaefarian, Ghasem & Andersson, Ulf & Yu, Chong, 2018. "Building subsidiary local responsiveness: (When) does the directionality of intrafirm knowledge transfers matter?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 475-492.
    16. Kafouros, Mario & Cavusgil, S. Tamer & Devinney, Timothy M. & Ganotakis, Panagiotis & Fainshmidt, Stav, 2022. "Cycles of de-internationalization and re-internationalization: Towards an integrative framework," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(1).
    17. Hendriks, Guus & Slangen, Arjen H.L. & Heugens, Pursey P.M.A.R., 2024. "Country portfolio diversity and firms’ portfolio adjustment decisions: A behavioral perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(4).
    18. Arte, Pratik & Larimo, Jorma, 2019. "Taking stock of foreign divestment: Insights and recommendations from three decades of contemporary literature," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1-1.
    19. Coudounaris, Dafnis N. & Orero-Blat, María & Rodríguez-García, María, 2020. "Three decades of subsidiary exits: Parent firm financial performance and moderators," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 408-422.
    20. Klaus E. Meyer & Chengguang Li & Andreas P. J. Schotter, 2020. "Managing the MNE subsidiary: Advancing a multi-level and dynamic research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 538-576, June.

    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:jbrese:v:168:y:2023:i:c:s0148296323005726. 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/locate/jbusres .

    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.