Being credited while being censured: Multinationality and sustainability of EMNEs
Publication Date
02/07/2018
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Keywords
Rights
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
closedAccess
Accepted for publication
2018
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Collections
Additional title
Abstract
Based on the liability of origin and the attention-based view of firms, we examine how the international business of emerging economy multinationals (EMNEs) affects their corporate sustainability (CS). We develop a contrasting perspective with respect to the dual impacts of international diversification on CS strengths (“being credited” for sustainability), and CS concerns (“being censured” for sustainability). On the one hand, we contend that international diversification improves CS strengths because the firm managers of EMNEs that rely on foreign sales are highly motivated to adopt CS as a global business norm for overcoming the liability of origin and the legitimacy challenge in foreign markets. On the other hand, we argue that international diversification also increases CS concerns since the firm managers in foreign subsidiaries of EMNEs may be less motivated to internalize CS. The results from a 2SLS instrumental variable approach support our hypotheses. Our results reaffirm that “it is misleading to simply say that international diversification is either good or bad” for corporate social responsibility and sustainability (Strike, Gao, & Bansal, 2006: 859). We contribute to the literature on CS antecedents by empirically showing that firm internationalization is a driver of CS in emerging economies. Our findings present implications for future research on CS and international business.
Version
No full-text in the repository
Citation
Park S-B (2018) Being credited while being censured: Multinationality and sustainability of EMNEs Academy of Management Proceedings. 2018(1).
Link to publisher’s version
Link to published version
Link to Version of Record
Type
Conference paper