Abstract
Although international nonmarket strategy research has highlighted the importance of political ties, it is still unclear why some foreign subsidiaries are more politically active than others and what conditions may render political practices beneficial in a host country. We argue that foreign subsidiary political tie intensity — the extent to which senior managers provide time and re- sources in informally dealing with government officials for nonmarket purposes — will be influ- enced by political institutions in their parent's home country, especially when the MNE parent attempts to protect foreign subsidiary resources. Additionally, we assert that fit between a par- ent's home country political institutions and foreign subsidiary political tie intensity will posi- tively affect subsidiary performance. We employ primary data collected from 181 foreign sub- sidiaries in the Philippines and find support for our hypotheses. This study advances international nonmarket strategy research by highlighting how an MNE's home country political institutions shape subsidiary political networking and strategic performance outcomes in host country en- vironments.