Internationalization Strategies of Firms from Emerging Economies: Is There a Strong Case for Theoretical Extension?

Outward FDI flows from emerging economies have increased with an astonishing rate during the last several decades (Figure 16.1). While annual outward FDI flows originating from these economies were slightly less than US$ 12 billion in 1990, this figure increased by almost twenty-fold and reached US$ 253 billion in 2007 (UNCTAD, 2008). Concomitant with the mounting importance and prevalence of multinational firms from emerging economies, practitioners and academicians alike are becoming more interested than ever in understanding idiosyncratic strategies of these emerging multinationals (EMNEs). This interest reveals itself in special reports in practitioner outlets (for example, The Economist, 2008; BCG, 2009) along with focused issues in reputable academic journals such as the Journal of International Business Studies (Luo and Tung, 2007) and the Journal of International Management (Aulakh, 2007).