Is there an advantage of emergingness? A politico-regulatory perspective

Abstract The source(s) of competitive advantage of emerging-economy multinational enterprises (MNEs) remains a puzzle in international strategy scholarship, with some arguing that such firms are at a disadvantage compared to developed-economy rivals. Drawing on the concept of institutional advantage and using a sample of 233 foreign subsidiaries operating in 25 emerging economies over the period of 2000–2017, we find that foreign subsidiaries of emerging-economy MNEs are more adept than foreign subsidiaries of developed-economy MNEs at deploying their fixed asset management capabilities in emerging-economy host countries, especially when host-country politico-regulatory institutions are underdeveloped. Likewise, we find that subsidiaries of emerging-economy MNEs are more adept at deploying their tax planning capabilities when host-country politico-regulatory institutions become increasingly volatile. We discuss how these findings contribute to scholarly thought regarding the performance of emerging-economy MNEs.