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Article
The Performance Implications of Intra- and Inter-Regional Geographic Diversification
Strategic Management Journal (2010)
  • Theodore A. Khoury, Portland State University
  • Gongming Qian
  • Mike W. Peng
  • Zhengming Qian
Abstract

Engaging the debate regarding the appropriate level of geographic diversification for multinational enterprises (MNEs), we examine a critical, yet unresolved, question: How is performance impacted by the MNE's level of intra- and inter-regional diversification versus the total level of geographic diversification? Using data from 123 U.S.-based MNEs over a seven-year period and leveraging both sales-based and subsidiary-based measures for diversification, we find that performance increases at an increasingly higher rate as firms concentrate more heavily on intra-regional diversification. Regarding inter-regional diversification and total geographic diversification, we find inverted-U relationships to exist between firm performance and the level of geographic diversification. Different from recent research on multinationality, our robustness checks indicate no evidence of a sigmoidal relationship between the degree of regional diversification and performance.

Disciplines
Publication Date
September, 2010
Citation Information
Theodore A. Khoury, Gongming Qian, Mike W. Peng and Zhengming Qian. "The Performance Implications of Intra- and Inter-Regional Geographic Diversification" Strategic Management Journal Vol. 31 Iss. 9 (2010)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/theodore_khoury/7/