Value Creation and Home Region Internationalization by U.S. MNEs

This study analyzes the relationship between multinationality and performance of 1,247 US multinational enterprises (MNEs) over the period of 1995-2004 by utilizing Tobin’s q theory. Internationalization is a double-edged sword: foreign intangible assets create a firm’s value, while, at the same time, internationalization itself degrades the value by raising transaction costs and uncertainty in foreign operations. The empirical results show that US MNEs cannot increase their performance merely by developing their intangible assets in the rest of the home region (Canada and Mexico). Conversely, US MNEs rarely suffer from a liability of foreignness in their home region