Overcoming institutional divides: Historical ties, economic integration policies, and the selection of partners for international technological alliances
研究制度距离如何阻碍跨国合作，发现历史殖民纽带和经济一体化政策能削弱这种负面影响，帮助企业在全球轮胎行业中选择联盟伙伴。
While management research documents a strong negative effect of institutional distance on cross-border interactions, we know relatively little about whether and how firms can overcome this snag. Using transaction costs and institutional arguments we posit that the negative effect of institutional distance on selection of international alliance partners will be weaken by the extent of informal (i.e., colonial duration) and formal (i.e., economic integration policies) ties between home-countries of prospective partners. The relative strength of these ties will reduce uncertainty and risks, as well as provide better mutual knowledge of partners’ cognitive, normative, and regulatory backgrounds. Empirical results based on a panel of firms in the global tire industry and addressing endogeneity issues confirm these predictions. Our findings offer a more comprehensive view of international partner selection for alliances, attesting the role of institutions in this process and their interplay with the macro context of organizations which includes historical links and current economic policies. • We argue that the effects of institutional distance will be mitigated by formal and informal ties between countries. • Formal, codified ties reduce appropriation concerns, informational asymmetries, and nationalistic views towards partners. • Informal ties provide deep mutual knowledge and shared regulatory prescriptions that help firms with their selection. • Empirical results based on an analysis of a longitudinal panel of worldwide tire producers confirm our hypotheses.