The institution behind the distance
Before using institutional distance, name the direction, dimension, experience, and decision. Do not combine unlike dimensions into one sign.
| Declaration | What to name | Why it matters | What not to infer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direction | Home, host, entrant, target, or both parties | The same gap can create different work for each side. | Distance is not automatically symmetric. |
| Dimension | Regulatory, financial, governance, informal, cultural, or another construct | Dimensions can carry different mechanisms and signs. | A composite score is not a mechanism. |
| Experience | Relevant prior country, cultural-block, or institutional experience | Learning can alter uncertainty for some entry modes. | Experience does not erase institutional difference. |
| Decision | Location, entry mode, ownership, commitment, or post-deal outcome | The construct's meaning depends on the decision. | Location choice is not acquisition performance. |
| Evidence boundary | Home country, period, sample, and source of the measure | Context limits transportability. | A historical or single-home result is a current global score. |
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Reference & Evidence
Source: Author's decision table grounded in Kostova et al. (2020), Depperu, Galavotti, and Baraldi (2024), and Barkema, Bell, and Pennings (1996). The table is a mechanism declaration, not a country-risk score.
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