COLONIZATION, INSTITUTIONS, AND CROSS-BORDER ACQUISITION DECISIONS OF EMERGING MARKET MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES

This research focuses on cross-border acquisitions of emerging market multinationals (EM MNEs). Opposing theoretical perspectives of colonial ties (i.e., country ties between the acquiring and target firm countries, with the former being a colonized country and the latter being a colonizer country) are argued as predictors of EM MNE equity participation. Colonial tie is discussed as a source of legitimacy that can lower legitimacy threats (i.e., the likelihood of being deemed as illegitimate) via promoting similarities in informal institutions of the home and host countries. On the other hand, colonial tie is argued to be a historical event that can increase legitimacy threats due to perceived superiority of the colonizer. Chapter 1 contains an overview of and rationale for the study. Chapters 2-4 cover the literature review, theoretical development, contributions, and avenues for future research. This research fills the gap in literature by introducing colonization as a historical perspective with which to understand equity participation decisions.