• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.267-275
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• 2021

This study investigates the relationship between cultural distance and entry mode choice, where the foreign investor firm and the host country are both from emergent economies. Within this framework, research is limited and the issue is whether companies, regardless of their specific situations, have the same strategy when they meet a high degree of uncertainty in the host environment. In this study, we focused on the influence of informal institutional factors: cultural distance, that has been extensively analyzed in international business, measured by Kogut and Singh index and defined according to Hofstede, Globe Project and Schwartz approaches. The general trend derived from prior research proves that when a company from a developed country is involved; overall more enthusiasm is shown for wholly-owned subsidiaries rather than joint venture. This result still stands validated for corporations from this emergent economy area. Our analysis of a sample of 163 FDI in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) using logistic binary regression model reveals that the foreign firms prefer to establish wholly-owned subsidiaries in the host country over entering into a joint venture with a local firm, taking into consideration the large cultural distance.