Partnerships between firms from relatively high- and low-status countries are prevalent in international businesses. However, the strategic implications of such status-heterophilous relationships remain under-explored. Our study employs a construct of status anxiety to describe the concerns of firms from low-status countries regarding their low bargaining power and the sustainability of their relationship with partners from high-status foreign countries. We hypothesize that status anxiety motivates firms from low-status countries to increase their investment in technological research and development. This study is among the first to incorporate social status as a new theoretical perspective for examining international status-heterophilous associations and strategic responses.

来自地位相对较高和较低国家的公司之间的伙伴关系在国际业务中很普遍。然而，这种地位异质关系的战略意义仍未得到充分探索。我们的研究采用地位焦虑的结构来描述地位低的国家的公司对其议价能力低以及与地位高的外国合作伙伴关系的可持续性的担忧。我们假设地位焦虑会促使来自低地位国家的公司增加对技术研发的投资。这项研究是最早将社会地位作为研究国际地位异质协会和战略反应的新理论视角的研究之一。