Table 1 RQ–Sub relationship literatures.

Moalla and Mayrhofer (2020)

N.A.

Network/

Merger-Acquisition/ Cooperative Alliance

Cultural distance/Administrative distance/Geographic distance/Economic distance

N.A.

Merger-Acquisition/Cooperative Alliance

The findings indicate that administrative and economic distance has a significant influence on market entry mode choice, whereas the impact of cultural and geographic distance is not significant.

Wang et al. (2019)

RBV

Political connection/ Network/

Greenfield/ JV/ Acquisition

Firm technological capabilities/Industry technological capabilities/Political connections

N.A.

R&D entry mode

The study showed that strong political connections at home encourage Greenfield investments. Strong technological capabilities have a relatively little direct impact but interact with political connections to encourage Greenfield investments.

Lin (2019)

Resource dependence theory

Network/

The % shareholding taken by headquarters in its foreign affiliates

Cultural distance/Geographic distance/Institutional distance

N.A.

Business group headquarters’ ownership in foreign affiliates

The results show that the equity stakes of the BG headquarters in the group-affiliated firms in foreign markets were positively associated with the geographic distance between the country of the BG headquarters and the host country of the foreign group-affiliated firms.

Schwens et al. (2018)

N.A.

Entry mode/

Export/Non-FDI contractual/JVs /WOS

The intensity and diversity of SMEs’ operation mode experience

Target market/region-specific experience

Entry mode choice

We find that a unit increase in intensity and diversity of export experience significantly increases SMEs’ propensity to choose export in a new foreign market. We also find that greater intensity or diversity of WOS experience increases SMEs’ propensity to choose a WOS in a new foreign location.

Duanmu and Lawton (2021)

Agency theory

Motivation/

OS/JV/

Foreign buyouts with efficiency-seeking/Foreign buyouts with CEO succession

N.A.

Performance improvement

We provide micro evidence that superior post-buyout performance is observed in converted WOSs with efficiency-seeking operations and subsequent CEO succession. The findings extend our understanding that ownership per se does not guarantee performance improvement.

Wan et al. (2023)

RBV/TCE

Entry mode/

WOS/JV/ Greenfield/ Acquisition

Parent-firm characteristics/ Host-country/ Parent-foreign affiliate differences/ Home-host country differences

Time of study/ Home-country type/Journal level/Entry mode measurement

Entry mode/ Post-entry outcomes

The ownership mode and establishment choice had significantly positive effects on survival. The results showed that establishment mode and ownership mode worked differently as mediators.

Mas-Ruiz et al. (2018)

Institutionalist perspective

Network/

WOS/JV/other alliance

The mimetic entry by firms of the strategic reference group

The firm’s host country experience

Foreign entry mode

Our results reveal imitation behavior between members of the strategic group and highlight the important role of the strategic group in strategic thinking.

Albertoni et al. (2019)

N.A.

Entry mode/ Outsourcing/ Captive

The repetition of previous entry modes/The inertial and the mindful repetition of the entry-mode choice

N.A.

Entry mode

Results confirm that firms tend to replicate the previous entry modes of the same type. In particular, the mindful entry-choice model shows that firms tend to repeat past successful experiences.

Li et al. (2020)

N.A.

Entry mode/

WOS/JV

Foreign market entry

N.A.

The performance effect of the entry mode choices in different subnational regions

The smaller performance gap between wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures in the developed region indicates that the magnitude of influence of entry mode choices on performance varies across subnational regions.

Ma et al. (2021)

Social network theory

Political connection/

Entry mode/

WOS/JV

Political ties

Entry mode/ Industry restriction

Firm performance

The findings support the hypotheses that the impact of political ties on firm performance is contingent on firms’ ownership-based entry modes and industry restrictions. In particular, the impact of political ties is stronger for joint ventures (JV) in less restricted industries and wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) in more restricted industries.

Lu et al. (2018)

TCE

Political connection/

Entry mode/

JV/WOS

Political hazards

Host country experience/ Foreign aid

Foreign entry mode choice

We find that Chinese firms tend to use the joint venture mode when political hazards are high in an African country. This relationship is weakened when they accumulate host country experience and when the Chinese government’s foreign aid to an African country increases.

Li et al. (2021)

Stakeholder perspective and

TCE

Entry more/

WOS/JV

Entry mode of new foreign direct investment

Firm’s Transparency /External Control of corruption.

Freedom of digital media

Our empirical analyses indicate that freedom of digital media in a host country has a positive impact on an EMNE’s wholly owned subsidiary choice as an FDI entry mode. This main relationship is strengthened by EMNE transparent information disclosure and external control of corruption in the host country.

Tse et al. (2021)

Complementary asset theory

Entry mode/

Network/

JV/WOS

Local R&D investment

Local government support/ MNEs’ entry mode

Innovation performance of local subsidiaries

We show that: (a) local government support positively moderates the effect of foreign firms’ local R&D investment on their local subsidiaries’ innovation performance in China; (b) this relationship is stronger for IJVs than for WOSs; and (c) local government support appears to have a stronger moderating effect for IJVs than for WOSs on this relationship.

Amankwah-Amoah et al. (2022)

Knowledge-based view and Upper echelons theory

Equity modes/

Non-equity modes

Foreign market knowledge

Financial slack

Foreign entry mode choice/International performance

The results reveal that FMK and international performance relationship is mediated by foreign market equity entry mode choice. The results also suggest that FMK positively relates to SMEs' preference for equity mode for foreign market entry and this relationship is amplified when slack resource is greater.

Li et al. (2017)

N.A.

Political connection

Entry mode/

WOS/JV

Linkage capability/ Leverage capability/ Learning capability

Cultural Distance/ Market Potential/ Institutional Distance

Entry mode choice

The results show that multinational firms from emerging markets (EMFs) with stronger LLL capabilities are more likely to choose the wholly-owned mode in foreign entries. The relationship between linking capability and wholly-owned entry mode choice is weaker at higher levels of cultural distance between home and host country.

Ripollés and Blesa (2017)

TCE/Organizational capabilities-based perspectives

Equity modes/

Network/

Non-equity modes

The need for after-sales service in foreign markets/The technological complexity of international new ventures’ products/services /Inter-firm network management activities

N.A.

Entry modes

Our findings show that the technological complexity of INVs’ products/services explains their preference for equity entry modes. Additionally, the development of network management activities among the networked firms determines the INVs’ preference for non-equity entry modes.

Agnihotri et al. (2022)

Contingency theory

Entry mode/

Network/

JVs/WOS/Exports /Licensing

Servitization through customer relationship/ Servitization through digitalization strategy

National cultural differences in the home versus host country

Entry modes

Based on the extant literature, using a 2*2 matrix, the authors delineate the influence of two dimensions of servitization on entry mode decisions: customer relationship focus and digitalization focus. They conceptualize that relationship management and digitalization-based servitization have an antagonistic effect on the need for entry-mode resource commitments, and macroenvironmental factors’ favorability moderates this tension.

Elia et al. (2019)

TCE/RBV/Knowledge-based view

Network/

Outsourcing/ Partnering/teaming arrangement/ Captive

Business functions modularity/ Functional fine-slicing/ Offshoring experience

N.A.

Entry mode hierarchy

Modular activities are more likely to be outsourced, as modularity decreases transaction costs and knowledge leakage risks, while not-modular activities reflect captive entry modes. We argue that firms can “break” the mirror as the entry choice is contingent upon the level of disintegration of the value chain and the offshoring experience of the firms.