From Global Firms to Global Boards?

This paper examines the internationalization of Nordic company boards during 2001-2008. Using Poisson pooled and panel estimators we find that financial rather than commercial internationalization drives the recruitment of
international board members. Foreign listing and foreign ownership are significant whereas international sales and operations are not. When we extend “board internationalization” to encompass national directors with international experience we find that shareholders may opt for domestic board members with that experience to match the firm’s commercial internationalization. This indicates some support for the view that different kinds of firm internationalization – commercial versus financial - might lead to different types of board internationalization. We find no evidence that the internationalization of boards is limited by the conservatism of existing national board members, language barriers or “old boys’ networks”.