Internationalization of the State-Owned Enterprises from Emerging Markets: Literature Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Research on the internationalizing state-owned companies (SOEs) is extremely relevant in the scientific community of strategic management and international business. Emerging markets show many examples of internationalized state-owned companies that are successful competitors to private firms, even though traditionally state companies are concerned mostly with their domestic markets. The research literature provides different answers to the question what theories better explain the international strategies of state-owned companies, and whether traditional theoretical approaches are able to explain these strategies. One of the dominant theoretical perspectives used in the analysis of international strategies of SOEs is the institutional perspective that explores the mutual influence of state ownership and institutional prerequisites of state-owned companies to international strategy. Scholars study the internationalization of SOEs through the lenses of resource-based view, resource dependency theory, political economy, transaction costs and neo-institutional theory. The major contribution of the research of internationalization of SOEs is that state ownership in companies indeed matters in terms of firms’ international strategies. State ownership influences the way firms internationalize, the choice of ownership in the international division, the degree of control and management features. The essence and scale of this influence continues to be in the center of scientific discussion. This review presents the promising and underexplored research avenues that have the potential for further development.