Within-country product diversification and foreign subsidiary performance

Abstract

We examine the product diversification of a multinational firm within each of its host-country markets. Based on a sample of 12,992 foreign subsidiaries of Japanese multinational firms, we find that higher levels of within-country product diversity led to higher subsidiary performance where the institutional strength of the local market was weak, and where a firm's corporate product diversity level was high. Our study highlights the importance of examining a multinational firm's strategy in its individual host-country markets, as influenced by the institutional characteristics of a host-country market and the corporate-level strategy of the multinational firm. © 2008 Academy of International Business. All rights reserved.