When does absorptive capacity matter for international performance of firms? Evidence from China

Aiqi Wu and Hinrich Voss

International Business Review, 2015, vol. 24, issue 2, 344-351

Abstract: While learning plays an important role in firms’ internationalization process, the impact absorptive capacity has on the international performance when considering the timing of the internationalization is still unclear. Our research explores the role of absorptive capacity in international performance of early internationalizing firms and international experienced firms. Combining established theories, we propose opposing effect of absorptive capacity as the learning advantages of newness vanish over time and are replaced by organizational rigidities and inertia. Based on survey data from 162 Chinese firms, our empirical results indicate that the influence of absorptive capacity on international performance becomes stronger when the firm enters foreign market in its earlier stage of life cycle. However, we find that as the learning advantages of newness diminish, so does the effectiveness of high levels of absorptive capacity. Absorptive capacity resources become captured by organizational and operational rigidities and contribute less to firm performance.

Keywords: Absorptive capacity; China; Duration of internationalization; Earliness of internationalization; International performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593114001255
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iburev:v:24:y:2015:i:2:p:344-351

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/133/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... me/133/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2014.08.006

Access Statistics for this article

International Business Review is currently edited by P. Ghauri

More articles in International Business Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().