The Rise of Multinationals from Emerging Countries: A review of the literature

Abstract

The rising role of developing country MNEs in international markets is one of the most recent aspects of the globalization process. Recent data on the outward expansion of firms from developing countries have induced many scholars to analyze in depth this phenomenon, both theoretically and empirically. This study is a aimed at systematically and critically review the literature on this relatively new topic. At a theoretical level, the paper is an attempt to shed some light into the current debate on the adequateness of the ‘old’ theories of internationalization to explain this ongoing process. A strand of ‘new’ theories is in fact emerging focusing on the unique features of the internationalization process of developing country MNEs. Moreover, by means of an analysis of a very recent strand of empirical and descriptive literature, the final objective of this work is to focus on the distinctive features of developing country MNEs in order to suggest additional directions for future research and more detailed analyses on the topic under exam.