Configuring political relationships to navigate host-country institutional complexity: Insights from Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa

Nathaniel Boso (), Joseph Amankwah-Amoah (), Dominic Essuman (), Oluwaseun E. Olabode (), Patience Bruce (), Magnus Hultman (), James Kofi Kutsoati () and Ogechi Adeola ()
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Nathaniel Boso: University of Pretoria
Joseph Amankwah-Amoah: University of Kent
Dominic Essuman: University of Sheffield
Oluwaseun E. Olabode: University of Bradford
Patience Bruce: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Magnus Hultman: Brock University
James Kofi Kutsoati: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Ogechi Adeola: Pan-Atlantic University

Journal of International Business Studies, 2023, vol. 54, issue 6, No 5, 1055-1089

Abstract: Abstract We examine how ties with multiple host-country political institutions contribute to MNE subsidiary performance in countries with weak formal institutions. We suggest that forging relationships between subsidiaries and host-country government actors, local chieftains, and religious leaders generates regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive political resources. We integrate institutional and configuration theories to argue that similarity to an ideal configuration of the three political resources contributes to MNE subsidiary performance, and that the more dysfunctional host-country institutions, the greater the impact on performance. We test our hypotheses using primary and archival data from 604 MNE subsidiaries in 23 Anglophone sub-Saharan African countries and find support for our hypotheses. In our conclusion, we discuss the wider theoretical, managerial, and public-policy implications of our findings.

Keywords: corporate political activity; political resources; dysfunctional market conditions; MNE subsidiary performance; institutional theory; configuration theory; moderated regression model; sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1057/s41267-022-00594-8

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