Structural Inertia, Imitation, and Foreign Expansion: South Korean Firms and Business Groups in China, 1987–1995

Abstract

The foreign expansion of firms is healed as an instance of organizational and strategic change shaped by structural inertia and imitation. A longitudinal analysis of South Korean firms in China shows that business group experience and imitation among firms from the same home-country industry increase the rate of foreign expansion. Industry imitation effects tend to decrease after a firm makes its first foreign entry.