AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings - Academy of International ...

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"payments to government" (explained by the regulative pillar of Institutional Theory), "voluntary contributions
to civil society" (explained by the cognitive pillar of Institutional Theory) and "new investments" (explained by
the influence of the stakeholders to whom this information is destined). The results of the statistical tests show
that the level of disclosure was higher in Brazilian firms with regard to five UN indicators. The study represents
a contribution to current research on social information disclosure by Brazilian firms, compared to firms in
countries with more highly institutionalized CSR structures. (For more information, please contact: Marcelle
Colares Oliveira, Universidade de Fortaleza, Brazil: marcellecolares@unifor.br)
Industrial Evolution on the Second Round: Missing Pieces from MNEs Context
Hye Sun Kang, University of South Carolina
Against predictions from both industrial evolution and institutional perspective, why the MNEs in the same
industry with same nationality show heterogeneity of technological trajectories during the second variation in
the industrial life cycle To resolve this tension, we postulate that the evolutionary pattern of industry will be
different in the second round of industrial evolution, especially if the firms are becoming MNEs as industry
evolves. Based on case analysis of three Japanese automakers, we argue that the multinationality of
automakers will lead heterogeneity in technological trajectories they pursue. Also, we predict that MNEs will be
heterogeneous in technological trajectories, a) when they are differently getting advantages from home
institutions, b) when they are differently interact with host institutions because of different level of institutional
advantages. (For more information, please contact: Hye Sun Kang, University of South Carolina, USA:
hyesun.kang@grad.moore.sc.edu)
Institutional Misalignment as a Cost of Doing Business Abroad: Varieties of Capitalism Approach
Kim J. Clark, University of Texas at San Antonio
Indu Ramachandran, University of Texas at San Antonio
Cost of Doing Business Abroad (CDBA) is an important construct in International Business. The variety of causes
leading to the CDBA has been the subject of and many scholars' examinations. Extending CDBA to an
institutional level, we develop a new perspective on the CDBA by incorporating institutional misalignment
between the home and the host country as a cause of CDBA. We propose that institutional misalignment should
be considered as a component of the CDBA. Using the theoretical lens of Varieties of Capitalism (VoC), we
explain why and how institutional misalignment can create additional cost for MNEs operating in foreign
countries. Specifically, we discuss how the differences between institutional configurations of the home and the
host country create institutional misalignment. Furthermore, we explain why institutional misalignment is
inevitable as MNEs cross national borders and how it incurs economic as well as social cost that MNEs may not
be aware of. By doing so, we extend the CDBA research to a national level of analysis and showed that a set of
firms from a nation can lose its national comparative institutional advantage as they cross national borders.
Finally, we assert that the larger the institutional distance between the two countries, the greater the
institutional misalignment is. (For more information, please contact: Kim J. Clark, University of Texas at San
Antonio, USA: kim.clark@utsa.edu)
The Effect of Corruption on International Technology Transfer and Spillovers: Evidence from the Wind Turbine
Industry
Neli Kouneva Loewenthal, George Washington University
The paper examines the effectiveness of the United Nations climate change mandate on clean energy
technology transfer from the developed to the emerging economies where corruption is perceived to be
generally high. The MNCs as repositories of knowledge are the key mechanism of transfer of capabilities
across borders. In the context of the wind turbine industry which is the focus of this study, foreign direct
investment (FDI) is the key mechanism for technology transfer from developed countries to the emerging
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