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Conventional wisdom suggests that war in the host country makes it unattractive for foreign firms to invest. To see if this is true for US firms on the aggregate, this paper aims to examine the veracity of a “permanent war economy” hypothesis, that foreign direct investment (FDI) may, in fact, increase in the host country not despite, but because of, war, i.e. one that lends credence to the idea that, in the USA, “defense [has] become one of constant preparation for future wars and foreign interventions rather than an exercise in response to one-off threats.”

The authors test the hypotheses using Generalized Method of Moments estimation, with Heckman Selection, on US FDI data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and war data from the Correlates of War2 Project, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program/International Peace Research Institute data set, the International Crisis Behavior Project and the Center for Systemic Peace Major Episodes of Political Violence data set. The final sample consists of 351 country-year observations in 55 host countries from 1982 to 2006.

The findings indicate that overall US FDI in a host country in a given year decreases if the host country is engaged in wars with multiple countries and if the US Government is involved in the war. Most notably, the results show that US involvement in multiple host country wars is actually correlated with increased US FDI into the host country, providing empirical support for the “permanent war economy” hypothesis.

While other studies have focused on war and FDI, the authors have sought to show the impact of the involvement of arguably the most influential country, i.e. the USA, in the sovereign matters of a focal host country. By studying FDI from the USA as a function of US involvement in wars overseas, over the years with the greatest use of private military companies by the USA and the largest portion of global FDI accounted for by the USA, this work motivates a research agenda on home-host-"other” relations in the context of war and FDI, with the “other” being the supranational “elephant in the room.”

This study compared the perceptions of US, German, Korean, and Mexican managers on six different survey items assessing the business success viability of female US expatriates. The US managers’ perceptions were generally less positive than those held by their foreign counterparts who represented the actual foreign business environment in their regions, suggesting a possible unfounded selection bias against US women and an unnecessary career obstacle. Furthermore, gender played a significant role in the US sample in assessing the perceived viability of American US expatriates, with female US managers expressing a more favorable attitude.

As the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is put into effect, Asian countries have shown growing concerns about the protectionist nature of the NAFTA. Key provisions of NAFTA which have potential negative impacts on Asian economies are examined. The economic analysis suggests that there will not be much, if any, trade or investment diversion effect of NAFTA upon Asian countries. The initial reaction to NAFTA from these countries supports this prediction.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between foreign subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance by focussing on two staffing practices: first, the ratio of parent country nationals (PCNs) to foreign subsidiary employees and second, the number of PCNs assigned to the foreign subsidiary.

Hypotheses predicting curvilinear relationships between the assignment of PCNs and subsidiary performance are tested using a panel data set consisting of 4,858 foreign subsidiaries of Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs).

The results demonstrate that the two staffing practices have different effects on subsidiary performance. The ratio of PCNs to foreign subsidiary employees has an inverted U-shaped relationship with subsidiary performance, while the number of PCNs assigned to the subsidiary has a linear and negative effect on subsidiary performance.

The results of this study are subject to limitations. First, the sample used in this study consists solely of the foreign subsidiaries of Japanese firms. This research design limits the generalizability of the findings of this study. Second, other decisions related to subsidiary staffing such as the ratio of PCNs in the subsidiary's top management team need to be examined to advance understandings of the relationship between subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance.

MNCs need to identify the appropriate number of PCNs at which they can achieve the optimal trade-off with the PCN ratio to enhance the competitiveness and the performance of a foreign subsidiary. In doing so, they need to take into consideration that an increase in the number of PCNs has an immediate negative effect on the workplace morale of host country nationals.

This study incorporates two staffing practices into its analyses and shows that they have different implications for subsidiary performance. The results suggest that focussing on one staffing practice alone limits understanding of the complex relationship between foreign subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance.

Attempts to verify anecdotal and field evidence of an unfounded expatriate assignment selection bias against American females. Surveyed the perceptions of US, German and Mexican managers across six areas for assessing the business success viability of female American expatriates. Shows that American managers were less positive than their counterparts who knew the foreign marketplace better. States that the gender of the manager played a significant role in the US sample, where female managers gave amore favourable assessment.

Traditional expatriate predeparture training has been general in nature, neglecting the input of the respective host country workforce (HCW) in identifying specific work interaction demands for optimizing expatriate management performance. This study found that workforces from Mexico, Indonesia and the USA differed significantly in their perceptions of both positive and negative behaviors affecting their work performance. Accordingly, the paper calls for a significant change in research and practice to incorporate the voice of the HCW to develop more valid and effective predeparture training for expatriate managers to enhance their performance in the host country to which they are assigned.

Aims to examine within the theoretical construct of absorptive capacity several forms of host country national (HCN) learning, leading to improved productivity in the foreign operation, and ultimately yielding more effective knowledge generation and flow throughout the multinational corporation (MNC).

Used open‐ended exploratory field interviews with 51 host country human resource and middle managers in 49 different MNC foreign subsidiaries with headquarters in six different countries. Learning needs in three major employee levels of operative, supervisory/middle management, and upper management were examined. Notes from the interviews were recorded by hand and combined and analyzed for evidence of potentially beneficial forms of HCN learning using procedures of domain and theme analysis in taxonomy development.

A total of 12 categories of potentially beneficial forms of HCN learning were identified and discussed relative to their contributions to increased absorptive capacity. These forms of learning included such areas as new employee orientation and entry job skills, MNC predominant language, MNC home country cross‐cultural awareness, supervision and technical operations management skills, expatriate coaching and liaison skills, and MNC strategy and culture.

Provides helpful insights on absorptive capacity to promote further theory development, as well as practical guidance for future HCN training to enhance the effective transfer of management knowledge and practice.

Past research in international management has had a predominant focus on expatriates, failing to identify important contributions that can be made by host country nationals to promote the effective transfer of knowledge throughout the multinational organization.

This chapter discusses how firms can accrue unique advantages from their foreign status in the host country, with a particular focus on informal networks. Drawing on the literature on the liability and asset of foreignness, this chapter argues that foreign firms can be in a better position to balance between the bright and dark side of informal networks than local firms. Foreign firms can deviate from local isomorphic pressures to minimize potential involvement in negative sides. Moreover, they can build more instrumental informal networks in which the dark side of informal networking is better controlled and regulated without losing social cohesion, flexibility, and other benefits of the bright side. This chapter contributes to our understanding of how foreign firms can turn foreignness into assets from liabilities when managing their informal networks in the host country.

Despite the growing recognition of its impact on successful expatriate management, repatriation continues to be a source of frustration to many human resources managers and the expatriates themselves. This study is designed to investigate underlying reasons for the failure of repatriation by comparing and contrasting the views of human resource managers and those of expatriates. Based on in‐depth interviews and mail surveys conducted in the USA, Scandinavia and the UK, this study concludes that discrepancy between the two parties in terms of motivations and expectations adversely influences the outcome of repatriation, often resulting in high attrition rates upon reentry to the home country. The paper also discusses similarities and differences between the US and Scandinavian respondents.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the emerging international career phenomenon of the “expat-preneur,” an individual temporarily living abroad who initiates an international new venture (self-employment) opportunity in a host country.

This analysis is based on the authors’ observance of developing trends that also are showcased in the international management and IHRM literatures.

Two general types of expat-preneurs are proposed: first, pre-departure expat-preneurs who move abroad with a preconceived entrepreneurial purpose; and second, transitioned expat-preneurs who, only while abroad, recognize and pursue a new venture opportunity, either from the status of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) looking for local employment or while serving as organization-assigned expatriates and leaving the organization at the end of the assignment or midstream.

Distinctions between expat-preneurs and typical business SIEs are explored, and important contributions that expat-preneurs may provide in strengthening local host country economies are considered. Directions for further systematic and empirical research on the expat-preneur international career phenomenon are discussed.

Important mutually beneficial implications are noted for multinationals in supporting expat-preneurs’ long-term success in host country environments.

This conceptual study provides a valuable recognition and analysis of an important and growing international career category that has received scant attention in the literature. This research has important implications for the understanding of new international career dynamics associated with the growing trend of international entrepreneurship, especially valuable for emerging markets and of interest to multinational firms interested in the movement of their human capital.