Comparative Business Failures of Foreign-Controlled Firms in the United States

We explore the comparative business failures of foreign-owned or controlled firms and domestically owned firms. Original data are collected regarding foreign-controlled firms in the U.S. that filed for bankruptcy protection, were involuntarily liquidated or ceased operations mainly due to poor financial performance during the 1978-1988 period. Our results show that foreign-controlled firms fail less often than domestically owned firms. The patterns of foreign-controlled business failures and the impacts of entry modes, ownership types, and national culture on the failures of foreign-controlled firms are also examined.© 1991 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1991) 22, 209–224