Managerial ability, overseas investment performance of emerging market countries – based on the perspective of intangible knowledge resources

Abstract

Purpose

From the perspective of intangible knowledge resources, this paper clarifies the impact of managerial ability on the performance of overseas investment subsidiaries. It explains the dilemma that the rapid growth of overseas investment by enterprises in emerging markets has not brought about the corresponding expected performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses matching data between the parent companies and overseas subsidiaries of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2022 to study the impact of managerial ability on the performance of overseas investment subsidiaries and its mechanism.

Findings

The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between managerial ability and the performance of overseas subsidiaries. However, the impact of managerial ability exhibits heterogeneous, which is more significant in non-state-owned enterprises, investments in high-income economies and M&A investment. Managerial ability promotes mainly the performance of overseas subsidiaries through R&D knowledge resources, marketing knowledge resources and internationalization experience; managerial ability significantly impacts the performance of overseas subsidiaries in the case of CEO two-job separation, low CEO shareholding level, the executive team with overseas background and female.

Originality/value

This paper introduces managerial ability as a critical intangible knowledge resource in the study of overseas investment performance, enriching and expanding the connotation and theoretical foundation of managerial ability. It clarifies the impact mechanism of managerial ability on overseas investment performance from three dimensions: R&D knowledge resources, marketing knowledge resources and internationalization experience. It provides new empirical evidence and management enlightenment for promoting overseas investment performance and high-quality development in emerging market countries.

Citation

Wu, Y., Zhan, H., Hong, L. and Hu, W. (2025), "Managerial ability, overseas investment performance of emerging market countries – based on the perspective of intangible knowledge resources", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-04-2024-0271