Taking on the Mob: How Multinational Enterprises Navigate Institutional Uncertainty in Organized Crime Hotspots (2000-2015)

About the Research

Government actions against organized crime may improve institutional quality or further damage an already weak institutional environment. This raises an important question: How do multinational enterprises (MNEs) react to the resulting institutional uncertainty in making their investment decisions? Emphasizing the linkages between real options theory and learning perspectives in explaining MNEs’ ownership choices, we propose that MNEs with greater prior exposure to challenges associated with organized crime infiltration are likely to consider the ongoing uncertainty as more endogenous (less exogenous) to their existing capabilities, and thereby take greater risks and equity stake in the target firms. Accounting for selection issues, we confirm our hypotheses using data on government’s anti-Mafia actions and foreign acquisition deals in Italy for the period 2000 – 2015.  Our findings highlight organized crime’s institutional role as an important factor in assessing host locations’ investment climate.

About Elisa Operti

Elisa Operti is an associate professor of strategy at ESSEC Business School, France. She received her PhD in management from Bocconi University. Her research focus lies at the intersection of network studies and innovation research. She is particularly interested in the interplay of positive and negative ties in social networks, and in multilevel network processes.

Date: Thursday 13 April, 2023

Time: 12:00-13:30 CET

Venue: Training Room (Zoom link provided to registered attendees)

Should you want to attend, please register at https://forms.gle/rYxqPmw7cZsCrsHU8