A Meta-analysis on Subsidiary Exit

A meta-analysis is a strategic tool to be used in developing new models based on existing ones found in the literature. The implementation of the meta-analysis on the current models of subsidiary exit among 51 academic papers, revealed that there are six important constructs, i.e., parent firm factors, environmental factors at target country, type of experience, organizational characteristics, experience, investment strategy, and subsidiary exit. At least 21 independent variables should be considered in future attempts of measuring or assessing subsidiary exit. US firms compared to Japanese and Korean firms have stronger relationships of the antecedent factors with subsidiary exit indicating their higher sensitivity to changes to factors influencing divestments. Finally, the study reveals 11 significant relationships which are formulated to a relational model which can be exploited in future studies on subsidiary exit/divestitures.