Influences on foreign ownership level and entry mode choice in Vietnam

Abstract

This study examines the determinants of (1) ownership level in equity joint ventures and (2) foreign market entry mode choice in the context of Vietnam. The first part is a replication of [Pan, Y. (1996). Influences on foreign equity ownership level in joint ventures in China. Journal of International Business Studies, 27, 1–26] study of foreign ownership level in equity joint ventures in China. Though Vietnam and China share some common characteristics, most of Pan's findings are not generalizable to Vietnam. The second part indicates that advertising intensity, country risk of Vietnam, project investment amount, project duration, cultural distance, competitive intensity, and location of investment have significant impacts on entry mode choice. An integrated analysis of joint venture ownership level and entry mode choice based on percentage of foreign equity suggests that only some of the above factors have statistically significant effects.