Dynamics of multinational rivalry Drawing insights from strategic management and international business literature, the present study develops an integrated model to explain the competitive actions between multinational firms in a global context. Accordingly, two research questions are addressed: What key factors explain the competitive actions of multinational firms? What key factors moderate the competitive tensions experienced by different pairs of multinational firms? Using structured content analysis to identify competitive actions, the empirical findings of the present study suggest that subsidiary control, MNE size, national culture, government regulations and multimarket contact are all likely to exert important impact on a multinational firm's motivation and capability to compete and therefore influence its competitive aggressiveness in foreign markets. [TABLE="class: citation"] [TR] [TH]Format:[/TH] [TD]Dissertation[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Author(s):[/TH] [TD]Yu, Tieying[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Published:[/TH] [TD]2003[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Language:[/TH] [TD]English[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .1 Motivation and Research Questions .1 Contribution .8 Overview of the Research Method .10 Organization of the Dissertation 11 II LITERATURE REVIEW .12 Interfirm Rivalry 13 Research in Game Theory 13 Research in Strategic Management 16 Overview of Competitive Dynamics 16 Overview of Multimarket Competition 21 Global Competition 25 An Extension of Oligopolistic Rivalry across Borders 26 Exchange of Threat 26 Follow the Leader .29 Addition of Firm-specific Factors to Oligopolistic Rivalry .31 Summary and Conclusion 33 III AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF MULTINATIONAL RIVALRY 35 Two Dimensions of Competitive Action .36 Action Volume .38 Action Complexity .39 An Integrated Model of Multinational Rivalry 40 Subsidiary Control 41 MNE Size .43 National Culture .45 Government Regulations 46 Multimarket Contact 49 Summary 50 IV HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT 52 Subsidiary Control 52 MNE Size .55 National Culture .57 Cultural Distance between Rivals 57 Cultural Distance between Home and Host Markets .60 Government Regulations 62 The Effect of Host Government Constraint .63 The Moderating Effect of Country of Origin .65 The Effect of Home Government Protection .67 Multimarket Contact 69 The Moderating Effect of Country of Origin .71 Summary 72 V RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .73 Sample Selection 73 Overall Research Procedure .75 Data Source 75 Data Organization 77 Identification of Competitive Actions 79 Measurement 82 Action Volume .82 Action Complexity .82 Subsidiary Control 82 MNE Size .83 Cultural Distance 83 Government Regulations 83 Multimarket Contact 84 Control Variables .86 Overview of the Statistical Analysis 88 Summary 91 VI RESULTS .92 Descriptive Statistics 92 Results of Hypothesis Testing 97 Summary 105 VII DISCUSSION, SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS 107 Discussion 107 Subsidiary Control 108 MNE Size .109 National Culture .111 Host Government Constraint 112 Home Government Protection 115 Multimarket Contact 116 Implications 119 Research Implications 119 Research Content 120 Research Methodology .122 Practical Implications .123 Limitations .123 Future Research Directions 125 REFERENCES .130 APPENDIX A 147 APPENDIX B 170 APPENDIX C 173 APPENDIX D 174 APPENDIX E .175 APPENDIX F .176 VITA 196
