The Home Country of the MNE: The Case of Emerging Economy Firms

Research on multinational enterprises that originate from emerging economies has highlighted the importance of the home country for firms’ strategies of internationalization. In this paper, we outline a simple analytical framework linking institutions and resource munificence in the home country to the domestic business eco-system in an emerging economy, and thereby to strategies of outward investments. Specifically, we argue that businesses interact with each other in their home economy, and these patterns of interactions influence strategies of internationalization as companies not only compete with each other, but share resources, coordinate actions and serve as each other’s role model. Strategies of outward investment thus reflect the competition and collaboration in their home country business eco-system.