Political affinity and opportunism in global supply chain: The mediating role of contractual and relational governance

IF 5.9 1区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

International Business Review Pub Date : 2025-02-11 DOI:10.1016/j.ibusrev.2025.102415

Zhiwen Fan , Tao Wang , Zhongyi Han , Yu Jia

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The dynamic international relations reflect a world that global supply chains are challenged by the political environment in which they are embedded, especially for emerging market firms (EMFs). Drawing on legitimacy-based view and supply chain management literature, this study investigated how political affinity between home and host country affect the use of governance in deterring opportunism of local distributors in the host market, as well as the moderating role of directionality of institutional distance. Using a survey dataset of 403 Chinese export firms at two time points and two secondary datasets, we find that political affinity increases the opportunistic behavior of local distributors by impeding contractual governance and facilitating relational governance. In addition, the effect of political affinity on governance strategies is conditional on the directionality of institutional distance. That is, negative institutional distance strengthens the impact of political affinity on contractual governance, while the influence of political affinity on relational governance is attenuated in the presence of positive or negative institutional distance. Our findings provide important insights for academic research and managerial practice.

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来源期刊

International Business Review BUSINESS-

CiteScore

14.10

自引率

6.90%

发文量

审稿时长

62 days

期刊介绍： The International Business Review (IBR) stands as a premier international journal within the realm of international business and proudly serves as the official publication of the European International Business Academy (EIBA). This esteemed journal publishes original and insightful papers addressing the theory and practice of international business, encompassing a broad spectrum of topics such as firms' internationalization strategies, cross-border management of operations, and comparative studies of business environments across different countries. In essence, IBR is dedicated to disseminating research that informs the international operations of firms, whether they are SMEs or large MNEs, and guides the actions of policymakers in both home and host countries. The journal warmly welcomes conceptual papers, empirical studies, and review articles, fostering contributions from various disciplines including strategy, finance, management, marketing, economics, HRM, and organizational studies. IBR embraces methodological diversity, with equal openness to papers utilizing quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method approaches.