Talent Beyond Borders: How Executives With Overseas Experience Shape Firms' Global Supply Chain Resilience

ABSTRACT This paper provides compelling evidence that executives with overseas experience play a crucial role in shaping firms' global supply chain resilience. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies and supply chain relationship data from the FactSet Revere database, we find that executives with overseas experience can significantly enhance firms' global supply chain resilience. Cross‐sectional analyses indicate that the positive effect is more pronounced in firms characterized by executives with overseas work experience, executives holding greater decision‐making power, state‐owned enterprises, and firms without foreign shareholding. Moreover, mechanism tests reveal that such executives strengthen firms' global supply chain resilience by diversifying market risk and alleviating financial constraints. In addition, our examination of economic consequences demonstrates that this enhanced resilience driven by returnee executives translates into substantial economic benefits. Overall, our findings highlight that executives with overseas experience serve as a critical human capital resource for firms striving to maintain stability within complex global production networks.