The Antecedents of Psychic Distance
Journal
Journal of International Management.
ISSN
1075-4253
ISSN-Digital
1873-0620
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2010-09
Author(s)
Abstract
This study investigates the antecedents of psychic distance. Building on original data in 25 of the world's largest economies, we investigate potential drivers of perceived psychic distances to foreign countries. The results show these perceptions to be influenced by a range of cultural, geographic, political and economic factors. Among these, absolute geographic distance accounts for the largest share of the explained variance, suggesting that physical distance should be given a more prominent role when it comes to empirically investigating international business decisions for which psychic distance perceptions may be important. The findings also suggest that, used in isolation, ‘cultural distance' - as measured by the so called Kogut and Singh index - is a poor predictor of such perceptions.
Language
English
Keywords
Cultural distance
Geographic distance
Institutional distance
Cross-cultural research/measurement issues
Psychic distance
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher place
Amsterdam
Volume
16
Number
3
Start page
195
End page
210
Pages
16
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
218068