QUESTION

‘Although the elegance and comprehensiveness of transactions costs reasoning has provided the internalisation approach with a powerful logic (Rugman, 1981, 1985), it is still deficient in some respect as a general theory of the MNE given it focuses primarily on one mode of hierarchy i.e. the wholly owned subsidiaries. Yet, there a number of other modes which firms can and do adopt to deal with imperfections in international markets including licensing, management contracts, sub-contracting, joint ventures etc. Moreover, firms often employ different modes simultaneously in addressing the needs of a particular foreign market (Contractor, 1985; Davidson and McFetridge, 1985). Hence, the internalisation theory should also encapsulate an economic rationale for the other modes (Hennart, 1985) and specify the conditions under which each would provide efficiency gains over WOSs and the market'.