IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0295443.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The influence of cultural friction on foreign divestment of multinational enterprises——the moderating role of formal institutional distance and political connections

Author

Listed:
  • Zijing Xu
  • Ming Tian
  • Yang Zhang

Abstract

Multinational enterprises frequently divest their foreign assets in the current economic environment. Existing research, based on friction theory, has mainly focused on the impacts of political and economic disparities on foreign divestment while neglecting the nuanced influence of cultural factors. To address this gap, this paper draws on the cultural friction perspective to capture the diverse cultural resistance faced by each enterprise and explore the relationship between cultural friction and foreign divestment. Data from Chinese publicly listed enterprises engaged in foreign investment are leveraged, and a dual-level analysis is conducted using Logit panel regression and Cox survival analysis to examine the relationship between cultural friction and foreign divestment from both the viewpoints of the parent company and the overseas subsidiary. Additionally, the paper examines the marginal factors that affect the relationship between them from an institutional perspective. The findings reveal that cultural friction has a positive influence on the propensity of multinational enterprises to divest from foreign markets. Interestingly, a "formal institutional distance paradox" is demonstrated in our study, and politically connected enterprises are found to be more vulnerable to foreign divestment due to the "curse of political affiliations".

Suggested Citation

  • Zijing Xu & Ming Tian & Yang Zhang, 2024. "The influence of cultural friction on foreign divestment of multinational enterprises——the moderating role of formal institutional distance and political connections," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(2), pages 1-31, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0295443
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295443
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295443
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295443&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0295443?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. René Belderbos & Jianglei Zou, 2006. "Foreign Investment, Divestment and Relocation by Japanese Electronics Firms in East Asia," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 1-27, March.
    2. Gabriel Benito, 1997. "Divestment of foreign production operations," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(10), pages 1365-1378.
    3. Difang Huang & Yubin Li & Xinjie Wang & Zhaodong (Ken) Zhong, 2022. "Does the Federal Open Market Committee cycle affect credit risk?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 143-167, March.
    4. 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.
    5. Chung, Chris Changwha & Lee, Seung-Hyun & Beamish, Paul W. & Southam, Colette & Nam, Daeil (Dale), 2013. "Pitting real options theory against risk diversification theory: International diversification and joint ownership control in economic crisis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 122-136.
    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. 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.
    2. Belderbos, René & De Michiel, Federico & Sleuwaegen, Leo & Wu, Shubin, 2021. "Global market integration, efficiency orientation, and drivers of foreign subsidiary divestments," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(5).
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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).
    6. 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).
    7. Lee, Hyoungjin & Chung, Chris Changwha & Beamish, Paul W., 2019. "Configurational characteristics of mandate portfolios and their impact on foreign subsidiary survival," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 1-1.
    8. Adewale Rafiu Aregbeshola & Ibrahim Ayoade Adekunle, 2025. "Episode of Foreign Direct Investment Reversal—The Role of Macroeconomic Fundamentals in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 1-25, December.
    9. Chuanchuan Li & Lei Li & Haodan Tang & Yanyan Zheng & Fangming Gong, 2023. "Human Capital Development and Its Influence on FDI Withdrawal: An Empirical Analysis," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(5), pages 116-134, September.
    10. Luo, Changyuan & Si, Chunxiao & Zhang, Hongyong, 2022. "Moving out of China? Evidence from Japanese multinational firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    11. 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).
    12. Viacheslav Iurkov & Gabriel R G Benito, 2020. "Change in domestic network centrality, uncertainty, and the foreign divestment decisions of firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(5), pages 788-812, July.
    13. Getachew, Yamlaksira S. & Beamish, Paul W., 2021. "Unbundling the effects of host-country institutions on foreign subsidiary survival: A case for subsidiary heterogeneity," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(4).
    14. 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.
    15. Tomassen, Sverre & Benito, Gabriel R.G., 2009. "The costs of governance in international companies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 292-304, June.
    16. 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.
    17. Laura Resmini & Giuseppe Vittucci, 2016. "Home country bias in divestment decisions of multinational corporations in the EU," ERSA conference papers ersa16p220, European Regional Science Association.
    18. Marty Reilly & Esther Tippmann & Pamela Sharkey Scott, 2023. "Subsidiary closures and relocations in the multinational enterprise: Reinstating cooperation in subsidiaries to enable knowledge transfer," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(6), pages 997-1026, August.
    19. Laura Resmini & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2020. "Home bias in divestment decisions of multinational corporations in the EU," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 799-813, August.
    20. Kher Priyanka & Carlos Griffin, 2023. "Divestment Drivers and FDI Retention," World Bank Publications - Reports 40344, The World Bank Group.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0295443. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.