TY - JOUR
T1 - A review of location, politics, and the multinational corporation: Bringing political geography into international business
AU - Saittakari, Iiris
AU - Ritvala, Tiina
AU - Piekkari, Rebecca
AU - Kähäri, Perttu
AU - Moisio, Sami
AU - Hanell, Tomas
AU - Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Jo Angouri, Ingmar Björkman, Sarianna Lundan, and Catherine Welch for their insightful comments on our paper. We are also very grateful to our research assistants and colleagues at Aalto University School of Business for their contributions. We highly appreciate the feedback from Frank Dobbin and colleagues of the SCANCOR Weatherhead Initiative at Harvard University. This paper is part of the Headquarters’ Location project funded by the Academy of Finland and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation for which we are very grateful. Finally, we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful feedback and Consulting Editor Gabriel Benito for his excellent editorial guidance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - How has international business (IB) research evolved to account for the politicization of the context in which multinational corporations (MNCs) operate? To address this question, we review research at the nexus of location, politics, and the MNC from 2000 through 2021. Rooted in classic IB theories, our review reveals three directions in current IB research: (i) expansion of MNC agency in shaping the political environment, (ii) a wider diversity of actors involved in the business–government–society interface, and (iii) extension of the levels of analysis from country level to sub- and supra-national levels. This three-fold evolution has moved IB research closer to the field of political geography, but the shift has remained largely implicit and its theoretical linkages are few. Drawing on key theoretical insights from political geography, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of bringing political geography into IB research.
AB - How has international business (IB) research evolved to account for the politicization of the context in which multinational corporations (MNCs) operate? To address this question, we review research at the nexus of location, politics, and the MNC from 2000 through 2021. Rooted in classic IB theories, our review reveals three directions in current IB research: (i) expansion of MNC agency in shaping the political environment, (ii) a wider diversity of actors involved in the business–government–society interface, and (iii) extension of the levels of analysis from country level to sub- and supra-national levels. This three-fold evolution has moved IB research closer to the field of political geography, but the shift has remained largely implicit and its theoretical linkages are few. Drawing on key theoretical insights from political geography, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of bringing political geography into IB research.
KW - Location
KW - Multinational corporations
KW - Place
KW - Political environment
KW - Political geography
KW - Politics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149133380&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1057/s41267-023-00601-6
DO - 10.1057/s41267-023-00601-6
M3 - Review Article
AN - SCOPUS:85149133380
SN - 0047-2506
VL - 54
SP - 969
EP - 995
JO - Journal of International Business Studies
JF - Journal of International Business Studies
IS - 6
ER -