Institutional Field for Outward Foreign Direct Investment: A Theoretical Extension?

The chapter explores the stages of development of an outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) institutional field during periods of major system change in big emerging economies. The state and its agencies appear to be the principal institutional entrepreneurs in developing the OFDI organizational field. Consequently, the development of OFDI institutions depends heavily on the extent to which state policy is consistent in supporting the regulative, normative and cognitive pillars enabling and promoting but also monitoring and controlling OFDI. The chapter concludes by advancing theoretical propositions positing the relationship between continuity, the maturity of the OFDI organizational field and the level of institutional entrepreneurship stemming from governmental and business sources.