A Framework for Understanding Firms’ Foreign Exit Behavior

Although research on foreign market entry and expansion behavior has attracted significant interest in the literature, there is a general lack of research (either conceptual or empirical) on the exit behavior of international companies. To address this issue, the authors develop a conceptual framework to understand firms’ foreign exit behavior. The objective is to lay the conceptual foundation for subsequent empirical research in this area. A series of research propositions have been advanced that can guide hypothesis generation for future research.