The Internationalization Process of Multilatinas from Chile

Abstract

Due to the strong economic position of Chile within Latin America and the existing deficit of research, this chapter focuses on Emerging Market Multinational Enterprises (EMNEs) from Chile. It draws upon institutional theory to analyze case studies on the internationalization process of 19 Chilean firms with outward Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). The authors find that market-seeking FDI is the major motivation for investing abroad. With respect to the geographical scope of outward FDI, the authors investigate that Latin America is the dominating destination for outward FDI by Chilean firms. Moreover, the results show that acquisitions and joint ventures are popular when investing in developed economies, whereas both greenfield investments and acquisitions are chosen most often when entering other emerging economies. Finally, the authors observe that Chilean firms internationalize rather late in their life cycle (i.e., they need a long time span between foundation and the first outward FDI). However, the authors do not find support for the proposition that Chilean firms enter a second or third foreign market faster when the cultural distance of the market is low.