Internationalization of European mobile telecommunication operators : institutional diversity and performance implications

Internationalisation plays a key role in the strategy of many firms, with one of the key benefits being improved performance. Since the early 1990s, internationalisation has played a central role within the mobile telecommunications industry, giving rise to multinational enterprises operating in multiple markets. In this paper we investigate whether the internationalisation that has occurred within the European mobile telecommunications industry has resulted in the improved performance of firms. We draw on data for 97 mobile network operators operating in 35 European countries covering the period 2003 to 2012 (inclusive). We adopt a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to explore the relationship between firm performance and the regulatory development of countries. Our findings reveal that regulatory development does impact on firm performance, as does the extent to which markets are concentrated. We also reveal how regulatory diversity impacts on the performance of firms, and discuss the implications that arise.