The primary studies on emerging market multinational firms (EMFs) thus far have depicted a picture of accelerated internationalization in which EMFs conduct a series of aggressive cross-border acquisitions to further enhance their competitive advantage. However, it is not clear whether the EMFs which conducted the acquisitions at a young age experience better performance. EMFs constrained by their home market development in economic institutions may encounter different challenges in their cross-border acquisitions. Using a sample of South African firms’ acquisitions between 1994 and 2012, we find support for the benefit of foreign acquisitions at a young age as well as the moderation effects of economic distance and economic freedom. While early inorganic growth provides an excellent opportunity to propel South African firms’ growth, the country level factors present important boundary conditions to examine the benefit of early internationalization. While facing a significant economic distance, older firms are better at utilizing their experience and experience better post-acquisition operating performance. By contrast, the younger firms benefit more from the post-acquisition when the home country has weaker economic freedom.

中文翻译：

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年龄问题：新兴市场公司跨国并购绩效中的经济距离和经济自由的偶然性

迄今为止，对新兴市场跨国公司（EMF）的初步研究描绘了加速国际化的景象，其中，EMF进行了一系列激进的跨国收购，以进一步增强其竞争优势。但是，尚不清楚年轻时进行收购的EMF是否表现更好。受经济机构本国市场发展制约的EMF在跨国收购中可能会遇到不同的挑战。通过对1994年至2012年南非企业并购的抽样调查，我们发现了对年轻时外国并购的好处以及经济距离和经济自由的适度影响的支持。早期的无机增长为推动南非公司的增长提供了绝佳的机会，国家层面的因素为检验早期国际化的利益提供了重要的边界条件。在面临巨大的经济距离的同时，老公司更善于利用​​自己的经验，并具有更好的收购后运营绩效。相比之下，当母国的经济自由度较弱时，较年轻的公司将从收购后的交易中受益更多。