This study investigates how political, economic, and cultural frictionsaffect the financial performance (ROE)of Chinese firms engaged in overseas expansion. Moving beyond the traditional distance-based perspective in international business research, t...
This study investigates how political, economic, and cultural frictionsaffect the financial performance (ROE)of Chinese firms engaged in overseas expansion. Moving beyond the traditional distance-based perspective in international business research, the study introduces interstate frictionas a core analytical framework to capture the actual resistance, tension, and transaction costsarising from cross-national interactions.
Using secondary data from international and firm-level sources, the analysis covers approximately 8,000 Chinese firms, yielding 25,082 firm-year observations, and employs multiple regression techniques. The results indicate that all three types of frictions exert statistically significant negative effects on firm performance, with political friction having the strongest impact. In contrast, cultural friction is shown to be more manageable, as its adverse effects can be mitigated through learning, adaptation, and managerial capabilities, and in some cases transformed into performance improvements.
Moreover, participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)moderates the negative effects of interstate frictions and enhances firm performance in host countries. Overall, the findings suggest that interstate frictions are dynamic rather than fixed constraints, and that their impact depends on the interaction between firm capabilities and institutional environments. By adopting a friction-centered perspective, this study provides a more realistic explanation of how interstate tensions influence firm performance and offers implications for both managerial strategy and policy.