Cross-border data transfer: patterns and discrepancies

An increasing number of data policies and legislative models are being developed globally. These complex data laws and circulation models are often competing and have extra-territorial implications, thereby complicating global data management for multinational enterprises. Adopting an institutional logic perspective, this study focuses on the European Union, the United States, and China as key representative economies. It aims to outline the three prevailing regulatory patterns in cross-border data transfer, their evolutionary trajectories, and the institutional logic behind them. Furthermore, the research investigates the conflicts in data circulation across borders among these major economies, examining their effects on the global data governance of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and identifying the universal challenges in current global data transfers. In response, we propose a future research agenda, grounded in theoretical insights, for international business research to address these challenges through the efforts of MNEs and public policy.