Global cities, the liability of foreignness, and theory on place and space in international business

Anthony Goerzen (), Christian Geisler Asmussen () and Bo Bernhard Nielsen ()
Additional contact information
Anthony Goerzen: Queen’s University
Christian Geisler Asmussen: Copenhagen Business School
Bo Bernhard Nielsen: University of Sydney

Journal of International Business Studies, 2024, vol. 55, issue 1, No 2, 10-27

Abstract: Abstract Goerzen et al. (J Int Bus Stud 44:427–450, 2013) became influential because it generated a broader view of the international business (IB) domain. The paper broke new ground by going beyond the country and regional levels to analyze MNE location choices, a novel approach that revealed the importance of global cities. The original argument suggested that global connectedness, cosmopolitanism, and advanced producer services mitigated the liability of foreignness, thereby highlighting the complexity of MNE location decisions. It also drew attention to the need for IB research to take a more nuanced view of MNE behavior. Developments since 2013, however, have rendered a very different world. Our goal in this commentary, therefore, is to challenge the IB community to think more deeply about the future of global cities specifically and about IB more generally. We do this by re-evaluating the role of cities as micro-locations against the emergence of megatrends that are shaping our future, including demographic shift and an increase in social awareness, the changing natural environment and an increase in sustainability concerns, and the rise in capability and application of digital technologies. We conclude by suggesting that IB research must connect more deeply with interdisciplinary theories and methodologies to produce generative IB research.

Keywords: Global cities; Liability of foreignness; Economic geography; Location strategy; Multinational corporations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41267-023-00672-5 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

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:pal:jintbs:v:55:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41267-023-00672-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nt/journal/41267/PS2

DOI: 10.1057/s41267-023-00672-5

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Business Studies is currently edited by John Cantwell

More articles in Journal of International Business Studies from Palgrave Macmillan, Academy of International Business
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().