The influence of ownership structure on internationalization

Michael-Jörg Oesterle, Hannah Noriko Richta and Jan Hendrik Fisch

International Business Review, 2013, vol. 22, issue 1, 187-201

Abstract: Common reasons mentioned for a firm's internationalization are related to advantages for the firm. However, if firms are conceptualized as political coalitions, this view does not seem to be sufficient to explain why and to what extent firms internationalize. A principal-agent theoretical approach focusing the ownership-stake-related motivations and bargaining power of owners plus the range of actions managers can employ in different ownership situations offers an alternative explanation. We consequently studied the influences of ownership structure – defined as the concentration of ownership – on a firm's degree of internationalization and the main regions of international diversification. Overall, we conclude that the relationship is non-linear. To test our hypotheses, we utilize panel data for the 102 largest German manufacturing firms from 1990 to 2006. The analysis confirms our assumptions.

Keywords: Agency theory; Ownership; Internationalization; Longitudinal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iburev:v:22:y:2013:i:1:p:187-201

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DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2012.03.007

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