Determinants of Internationalization Strategies of Emerging Market Firms: A Multilevel Approach

Abstract

Recently, debates about uniqueness of emerging market firms’ (EMFs) internationalization strategies were a focus of research. Yet, findings regarding their determinants are mixed, and conclusions on how EMFs’ internationalization strategies can be theoretically explained vary greatly. This article elaborates on the underlying reasons for these inconclusive results and addresses them by the development of a multilevel theoretical framework allowing for a better understanding of integrative influence of institutional, sector, and firm-specific determinants of EMFs’ internationalization strategies. This framework is validated by evidence from Russia, and a multiple case study approach is adopted to investigate the determinants of internationalization strategies of Russian firms.

KEYWORDS:

• emerging market firms
• internationalization
• Russia

Notes

^a Due to the high ruble/U.S. dollar rate fluctuation in 2009 (from 27 to 33), we take 30 rubles/U.S. dollar to calculate the turnover in U.S. dollars.

^b These two companies are not in the ranking and can be also estimated based on the open sources and experts’ opinions.

Source: Expert 400, http://www.raexpert.ru/rankingtable/?table_folder=/expert400/2010/main1/; authors’ estimates.

Irina Mihailova has previously published under her former surname Jormanainen.