Utilizing the Chinese Diaspora by Russian Firms: Capabilities and Legitimacy Implications

ABSTRACT This article examines the impact of foreign diasporas on host country firms. It contributes to diaspora research by focusing on the context of emerging market host countries and the specific case of Chinese diaspora in Russia. Drawing on the concepts of organizational capabilities and organizational legitimacy, we explain how the Chinese diaspora can be beneficial for the competitiveness of Russian firms, and how Russian firms can uniquely leverage these potential benefits through engagement with individual Chinese diasporans and diaspora institutions. Our article adds to the diaspora literature in several ways. First, unlike the majority of past research, which tends to focus on the benefits for the diaspora's home country, we highlight the potential impact on host country firms, specifically their capabilities and legitimacy at home and abroad. Second, our model can be viewed as a direct response to the many calls in the literature to study the microfoundations of firms’ capabilities. Third, we add to the legitimacy literature by proposing that engagement with a foreign diaspora can help host country firms establish and maintain their legitimacy both at home and on a global scale. Although our framework is informed by the Chinese diaspora in Russia, we discuss its generalizability to other contexts. 摘要 本文探讨了外国侨民对东道国公司的影响。文章通过引入组织能力和组织合法性的概念，解释了在俄华侨如何提高东道国俄罗斯公司的竞争力，以及俄罗斯公司如何通过与华侨个人以及华侨相关机构的紧密互动，对其技术能力、组织能力、全球化能力产生积极影响，以实现潜在收益最大化。本文对侨民及移民研究作出了几点贡献。第一，过去大多数研究强调侨民群体为母国带来的益处，而本文聚焦侨民群体对东道国公司的潜在影响，特别是对这些公司在国内外的能力和合法性方面的影响。第二，本文直接回应了学者们对更多关注公司能力微观基础的呼吁。第三，本文提出与外国侨民的紧密互动可以提高和保持东道国企业在本土和国际市场上的合法性。鉴于本文的理论框架反映的是在俄华侨的特定情境，文章进一步探讨了该框架在其他情境下的普遍性。