The home country boundness of technological resources and internationalization performance

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mixed results of the relationship between technological resources and internationalization performance. It argues that a high proportion of technological resources bound to be used in home countries decrease internationalization performance, which is moderated by organizational slack. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses data from Korean-listed pharmaceutical firms from 1998 to 2010. Tobit regression is used to test the hypotheses since the dependent variable takes a value within a limited range. Findings: The empirical results show that a high ratio of home country-bound technological resources reduces internationalization performance. This negative relationship is reinforced as organizational slack increases. Originality/value: This study reveals why technological resources do not always result in effective internationalization. Furthermore, its focus on organizational slack as an intrafirm contingency contributes to recent attempts to reveal organizational slack’s role in internationalization.