Traditionally, the Chinese government used an “iron fist” to control the economy and firms under central planning. However, the economic reforms since 1978 have substantially changed the institutional landscape. After more than two decades of dramatic economic transition, the economy is now...

We adopt and develop an institutional perspective to advance our understanding of how host country environments influence subsidiary staffing strategies. We propose and find that firms rely more on parent company nationals (expatriates) in institutionally distant environments for reasons related...