Cross-border full acquisitions by Chinese large SOEs: a springboard perspective plus institution-base view

Purpose This study aims to use the springboard perspective (SP) and institution-based view (IBV) to explore how company size and state ownership together affect the choice of full acquisitions and how some institutional factors moderate this effect. Design/methodology/approach Employing a Chinese sample and the logit model, this study empirically tested these interactive effects. Findings This study finds that company size and state ownership together can affect the choice of full acquisitions. Marketization, industry inward FDI, host technology and market growth each can moderate this interactive effect. Originality/value By applying the SP and IBV, it develops new theoretical mechanisms to help us understand the state ownership-firm internationalization relationship. It applies the IBV and SP to explain some moderating effects that are difficult to be explained by the SP or IBV alone. It explains why full acquisition is a kind of springboard internationalization mode (SIM) and why Chinese large SOEs are a kind of springboard multinational enterprise (SMNE). It proposes that researchers should adequately identify SMNEs and SIMs and build relationships between them.