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De-internationalization: A Thematic Review and the Directions Forward

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Abstract

The fast-growing interest in de-internationalization research calls for a comprehensive synthesis of extant literature to identify paths for future research. We have responded to this call with a framework-based thematic review of 218 articles published between 1979 and 2019. The review synthesizes theoretical arguments and empirical findings with the conceptual mapping of four themes: the concept of de-internationalization and its antecedents, consequences, and moderators. This synthesis ensures the theoretical contributions of future research on the dynamics of de-internationalization and its motives, barriers, and long-term impacts on multiple stakeholders as well as the conditions under which the impacts occur. This study, therefore, contributes to the literature with a thematic framework showing key themes in de-internationalization research as well as new directions in which to move forward.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Co-Editor-in-Chief Joachim Wolf and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. We extend my gratitude to reviewers and audience of the Academy of International Business 2020 Annual Meeting, and many other colleagues who provided valuable feedback on earlier versions of this work. Any error remains to the authors.

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  1. UniSA Business, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia

    Ryan W. Tang & Ying Zhu

  2. Business School, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekou Outer St, Haidian District, Beijing, 100875, China

    Hongbo Cai & Jinrong Han

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Appendices

Appendix 1: List of 218 Articles Analyzed for this Literature Review

Albertoni et al. (2017)

Alcantara and Hoshino (2012)

Alessandria and Choi (2007)

Ancarani et al. (2015)

Ancarani et al. (2019)

Andersen (2006)

Atkeson and Burstein (2010)

Bai et al. (2013)

Baldwin and Yan (2012)

Bane and Neubauer (1981)

Baraldi et al. (2018)

Barbieri et al. (2019)

Barkema and Vermeulen (1997)

Barkema et al. (1996)

Belderbos (2003)

Belderbos and Zou (2006a)

Belderbos and Zou (2006b)

Belderbos and Zou (2009)

Benito (1997)

Benito and Welch (1997)

Bernini et al. (2016)

Berry (2013)

Biggiero (2006)

Blake and Moschieri (2017)

Boddewyn (1979)

Boddewyn (1983)

Boddewyn (1985)

Boeh and Beamish (2015)

Bond (1988)

Breuer et al. (2017)

Buckley et al. (2013)

Calof and Beamish (1995)

Chan et al. (2006)

Chang (2019)

Chen et al. (2019)

Cheptea et al. (2019)

Chidlow et al. (2015)

Choquette (2019)

Chung and Beamish (2005)

Chung and Beamish (2010)

Chung et al. (2008)

Chung et al. (2013a)

Chung et al. (2013b)

Coucke and Sleuwaegen (2008)

Crick (2004)

Crick et al. (2018)

Dachs et al. (2019)

Dai et al. (2013)

Dai et al. (2017)

Darendeli and Hill (2016)

Delios and Beamish (2001)

Delios and Ensign (2000)

Delios and Makino (2003)

Delios et al. (2008)

Demirbag et al. (2011)

Deng et al. (2014)

Depecik et al. (2014)

Devigne et al. (2016)

Dhanaraj and Beamish (2004)

Dhanaraj and Beamish (2009)

Farah (2014)

Fernandez-Mendez et al. (2019)

Fisch and Zschoche (2012)

Fletcher (2001)

Foerstl et al. (2016)

Fong et al. (2007)

Garg and Delios (2007)

Gaur and Lu (2007)

Gaur et al. (2019)

Getachew and Beamish (2017)

Ghahroudi and Hoshino (2007)

Ghertman (1988)

Giarratana and Torrisi (2010)

Graham et al. (2016)

Grappi et al. (2018)

Gray et al. (2017)

Grunberg (1981)

Gumede (2004)

Hadjikhani and Johanson (1996)

Hakanson and Kappen (2016)

Hébert et al. (2005)

Hennart and Zeng (2002)

Hennart et al. (1998)

Hong (2016)

Iurkov and Benito (2017)

Jackson et al. (2005)

Jiang et al. (2011)

Jiang et al. (2014)

Jiang et al. (2015)

Johansson and Olhager (2018)

Jory and Ngo (2015)

Kalnins and Stroock (2011)

Kang et al. (2017)

Kauser and Shaw (2004)

Khalid and Larimo (2012)

Khan and Lew (2018)

Kim and Kim (2018)

Kim et al. (2010)

Kim et al. (2012)

Kim et al. (2019)

Kinkel (2009)

Kinkel and Maloca (2009)

Koch et al. (2016)

Kronborg and Thomsen (2009)

Laamanen et al. (2012)

Lampon et al. (2017)

Lee et al. (2019)

Li (1995)

Li and Liu (2015)

Liesch et al. (2011)

Love and Ganotakis (2013)

Love and Máñez (2019)

Lu and Hébert (2005)

Lu and Ma (2015)

Lu and Xu (2006)

Lu et al. (2013)

Luo (1998)

Makino and Beamish (1998)

Makino et al. (2007)

Malik and Zhao (2013)

Mariotti and Piscitello (1999)

Mata and Freitas (2012)

Mata and Portugal (2000)

Mata and Portugal (2002)

Mata and Portugal (2004)

Mata and Portugal (2015)

Matthyssens and Pauwels (2000)

Merrett (2007)

Meschi (2005)

Meschi and Métais (2015)

Meschi and Ricclo (2008)

Meschi and Wassmer (2013)

Meschi et al. (2016)

Meyer (2006)

Mitchell et al. (1992)

Mitchell et al. (1994)

Mohr et al. (2016)

Mohr et al. (2018)

Mudambi and Zahra (2007)

Murray et al. (2012)

Nachum and Song (2011)

Norbäck et al. (2015)

Nyuur and Debrah (2014)

Ogasavara and Hoshino (2008)

Onkelinx et al. (2016)

Ott et al. (2014)

Pajunen and Fang (2013)

Pal et al. (2018)

Pan and Chi (1999)

Papyrina (2007)

Park and Chung (2019)

Park and Russo (1996)

Park and Ungson (1997)

Park et al. (2011)

Parkhe (1991)

Pattnaik and Lee (2014)

Pauwels and Matthyssens (1999)

Peng and Beamish (2014)

Peng and Beamish (2019)

Pons (2008)

Procher and Engel (2018)

Requena-Silvente (2005)

Reuer (2000)

Rodrigues and Dieleman (2018)

Sandberg et al. (2019)

Shaver (1998)

Shaver and Flyer (2000)

Shaver et al. (1997)

Shenkar and Yan (2002)

Singer and Vanderwalt (1987)

Sleuwaegen and Onkelinx (2014)

Song and Lee (2017)

Song (2002)

Song (2014a)

Song (2014b)

Song (2014c)

Song (2015)

Sort and Turcan (2019)

Soule et al. (2014)

Sousa and Tan (2015)

Srai and Ané (2016)

Steensma and Lyles (2000)

Stentoft et al. (2018)

Sui and Baum (2014)

Sui et al. (2018)

Surdu et al. (2018)

Surdu et al. (2019)

Swoboda et al. (2011)

Tan and Sousa (2018)

Tan and Sousa (2019)

Tan and Tan (2012)

Thomas et al. (2007)

Tjemkes et al. (2012)

Tsang and Yip (2007)

Tsetsekos and Gombola (1992)

Turcan (2003)

Turcan (2006)

Turcan (2011)

Turcan (2013)

Turner and Gardiner (2007)

Valentino et al. (2019)

Varum et al. (2014)

Vissak and Francioni (2013)

Wan et al. (2015)

Wang and Larimo (2017)

Wang and Larimo (2019)

Welch and Welch (2009)

Wilkins (2009)

Wu and Zhang (2014)

Xia (2011)

Xu and Lu (2007)

Yang et al. (2015)

Yayla et al. (2018)

Zaheer and Mosakowski (1997)

Zeng et al. (2013a)

Zeng et al. (2013b)

Zhong et al. (2019)

Zschoche (2016)

Appendix 2: The Distribution of Included Articles

See Fig. 

Fig. 6
figure 6

De-internationalization articles published in the past four decades

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6, Tables

Table 3 Distribution of de-internationalization articles among outlets
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3,

Table 4 Research methods used in de-internationalization studies
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Table 5 Sample host countries
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Table 6 Sample home countries
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6,

Table 7 Industry sectors
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7,

Table 8 Sample firms
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8.

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Tang, R.W., Zhu, Y., Cai, H. et al. De-internationalization: A Thematic Review and the Directions Forward. Manag Int Rev 61, 267–312 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-021-00446-x

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