Equity ownership structure and internationalization of firms: the role of international experience of board chairs

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of equity ownership structure (i.e. CEO ownership, board chair ownership and institutional ownership) on internationalization of firms. The moderating role of international experience of board chairs is also examined.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses Compustat-Capital IQ data from Standard &Poor's. The sample of this study includes 309 US multinational corporations representing different sectors. The parameters were estimated by using the ordinary least squares regression with the SPSS statistical package.FindingsThe finding of this study suggests that CEO ownership and board chair ownership have a significant, positive impact on the degree of internationalization of firms, whereas institutional ownership has a negative impact. The predicted moderating role of international experience of board chairs has found mixed results.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by taking a holistic approach to examine the impact of equity ownership types (i.e. CEO ownership, board chair ownership and institutional ownership) on firms' degree of internationalization. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this research is also the first to investigate the impact of independent board chairs' equity ownership and international experience on internationalization.