Impact of Institutional and Business Distance on Subsidiary Performance: The Mediation of Subsidiary Entrepreneurship

Purpose - This study aims to identify the importance of subsidiary entrepreneurship as a key factor when MNE attempts to invest in challenging overseas markets. Through the simultaneous considera-tion of institutional theory and entrepreneurship theory, this study would like to examine how Korean subsidiaries in the Middle East improve their performance locally.Design/methodology - To reflect the characteristics of emerging markets, this study conducted a survey of Korean subsidiaries in the Middle East in cooperation with KOTRA and analyzed the hypotheses using a structural equation model based on 249 valid responses. Findings - The findings of this study are as follows. First, we found that institutional and business distance would positively affect subsidiaries' entrepreneurship. The result that subsidiaries' entre-preneurship is positively affected by institutional and business distance implies that attempts to close the difference between heterogeneous markets would increase subsidiaries' innovative proactiveness, such as R&D and creative marketing strategies. Second, we confirmed that the institutional and business distance positively mediate the subsidiaries' entrepreneurship growth, leading to high performance. Therefore, Korean subsidiaries are required and prepared to establish strategies to better understand institutional and business distances in advance and reduce the liability of foreignness by conducting customized research and training programs before sending Korean expatriates to local subsidiaries in the Middle East.Originality/value - This study contributed to institutional and entrepreneurship theory by proving the traditional relationship between institutional and business distance to subsidiaries' performance and the mediation of subsidiary entrepreneurship.