Board composition and firm internationalization: Are emerging market multinational enterprises unique?

The paper explores the impact of board composition on the degree of firm internationalization for emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs). Departing from previous studies focused on developed market multinational enterprises (DMNEs), in light of institutional voids in emerging economies, we hypothesize the relationship of board size, insider leadership, board independence, and board interlock with the level of internationalization of EMNEs. Using data from 5,104 publicly listed Indian firms from 2012 to 2020, we conducted a Tobit panel regression. The results show that board size and insider leadership are negatively correlated, while board interlock has a positive relationship, and board independence was insignificant with the level of internationalization. The findings of the study contribute to the EMNE literature by providing context-specific knowledge on board composition and internationalization. Furthermore, the results of this study contribute to the corporate governance literature regarding board dynamics in the context of emerging markets, which differ significantly from board dynamics in developed market companies.