The longitudinal effects of internationalization on firm performance: The moderating role of marketing capability

Firms seek to gain global competitive advantages via strategic international expansion targeting long-term performance improvements. This long-term perspective of the role of internationalization, however, is largely understudied in the literature. Exploring the longitudinal effects of internationalization on the firm is essential to explaining and understanding this widely adopted strategic option. This study adopts a PVARX method and maps out the time-series impact of internationalization on both firm financial returns and risk. These relationships are further explored by examining the moderating effects of firm marketing capability, one of the most powerful drivers leading to market advantages. The results demonstrate that high marketing capability assists international expansion to produce better outcomes over an extended period of time but low marketing capability does not produce these positive outcomes.