Abstract: This paper contributes to the resource dependence theory literature and corporate political activity literature by distinguishing dependence from uncertainty and explaining how two different types of uncertainty have opposite effects on dependence management. We draw on Milliken's (1987) uncertainty typology to explain how some environmental factors increase the state uncertainty associated with firms' dependence on government jurisdictions, whereas other factors increase response uncertainty. We hypothesize that, due to the historical influence of the media and social movement organizations (SMOs) on politics, negative national media tenor and oppositional SMO resources increase state uncertainty (i.e., government's likely behavior toward firms becomes less predictable), strengthening the relationship between firms' dependence on jurisdictions and their use of political contributions in those jurisdictions. Further, we hypothesize that TMT turnover and politician turnover increase response uncertainty (i.e., the effectiveness of firms' efforts to manage their dependence becomes less clear), weakening the relationship between dependence and political contributions. We find support for our theory in an examination of statelevel political contributions of firms in environmentally intensive industries from 2009 to 2016. Interviews with senior executives, political consultants, and senior government employees directly involved in corporate political activity help illustrate the hypothesized relationships.
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Abstract: The authors develop theory that explains how the government influences the pursuit of public sector opportunities, thereby influencing where new ventures expend their finite effort. Specifically, the authors use institutional theory to delineate the regulatory, cognitive, and normative drivers of born-public ventures. In doing so, the authors highlight both the government's regulative and non-regulative institutional influences. Finally, the authors present a research agenda to encourage further understanding of this important phenomenon.
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Abstract: Technology policy influences the incentives and opportunities firms have to innovate and adapt to changing environments and thus has important implications for strategy and entrepreneurship. However, to date, strategy and entrepreneurship scholars have paid insufficient attention to technology policy. We underscore the importance of two dimensions of technology policy: (1) state funding for research and (2) state protection of intellectual property (IP). We then illustrate how interactions between these two dimensions of technology policy influence (1) the corporate entrepreneurship (CE) strategies through which firms innovate and adapt and (2) the political strategies through which they attempt to influence and secure the benefits of technology policy. Given differences in the goals, incentives, capabilities, and relative power among the various players affected by technology policy, our discussion contributes to a more thorough understanding of the dynamic interplay between government institutions and firms, the potential complementarity (and substitutions) between firms' CE and political strategies, and interdependent effects of state funding for research and IP protection across different international environments.
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Abstract: This study examines factors affecting MNCs' establishment of R&D centers in China (i.e., China R&D centers). We argue that China offers not only location advantages (e.g., economic growth) that encourage MNCs to establish R&D centers there, but also location disadvantages (e.g., weak intellectual property protection) that discourage MNCs from doing so. Examining a sample of China R&D centers established by U.S. MNCs over fifteen years, we find that China's location advantages and location disadvantages have both independent and joint effects on MNCs' establishment of China R&D centers. We also find that MNC attributes moderate these effects.
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Abstract: This study investigates the roles of the regulative, normative, and cognitive institutional pillars as perceived obstacles and facilitators of internationalization within an integrated region. Integrated regions involve efforts to create institutional similarities among member nations and encourage intra-regional trade. These efforts make integrated regions a theoretically interesting and important context for analyzing managerial perceptions of the institutional environment. We content analyze essays and questionnaires from managers in the East African Community (EAC) to compare the three pillars. Our findings suggest that managers perceive the regulative pillar to be the greatest source of institutional obstacles to expansion within the EAC. Interestingly, the managers also perceive the regulative pillar to be the greatest source of institutional facilitators of expansion within the EAC.
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