In forming external networks in a host country, a foreign subsidiary acquires knowledge which contributes to the parent’s stock of country-specific knowledge and capabilities. Building on this notion, we argue that an MNE unfamiliar with the institutional environment of a newly entered foreign country has an incentive to expand its subsidiary portfolio in that country at a higher rate. We test this using a longitudinal dataset of German public firms which made investments into 2220 new host countries between 1985 and 2015. We find that unfamiliarity accelerates subsidiary portfolio expansion most when the initial investment is a wholly-owned subsidiary, and that the effect becomes weaker over time. Our study contributes to the internationalization process literature by showing that being unfamiliar with a host country is not necessarily an obstacle to subsidiary portfolio expansion – indeed it can accelerate it.

外国子公司在东道国建立外部网络时，会获得知识，这些知识有助于母公司拥有针对特定国家的知识和能力。基于这个概念，我们认为不熟悉新进入的外国国家的制度环境的跨国公司有动力以更高的比率扩大其在该国的子公司投资组合。我们使用德国上市公司的纵向数据集对此进行了测试，该数据集在1985年至2015年之间向2220个新的东道国进行了投资。我们发现，当初始投资为全资子公司时，不熟悉会加速子公司投资组合的扩张，而且效果会减弱随着时间的推移。