Time to Move On? The Impact of Institutions and Economic Crises on Headquarter Mobility

Building on prior research, we examine theoretically the institutional factors that push top managers to relocate HQ units overseas. To this end, we first discuss how coercive, isomorphic, and normative pressures may differentially affect HQ relocation decisions. Subsequently, we consider how economic crises influence the effects of the institutional factors in our model. We argue that economic crises have a dual effect on the international configuration of HQ activities. First, during times of crisis, we expect firms to react stronger to coercive, isomorphic, and normative pressures. Second, we expect economic crises to decrease the overall institutional quality in a given country context, pushing firms to move out. Our theoretical framework contributes to an improved understanding of how institutional factors influence firm behaviour under varying environmental conditions. Furthermore, we contribute to the literature on the role of economic crises in shaping economic organization.