Reexamining the relationship between control mechanisms and international joint venture performance: The mediating roles of perceived value gap and information asymmetry

Abstract

According to transaction cost theory, the risk of opportunism is a major obstacle to cooperative relationships, such that multinational corporations need to exert control over their international joint ventures (IJVs). However, inconsistent findings indicate that the control-performance linkage is complex and poorly understood. This study develops a mediating framework and suggests that perceived value gap and information asymmetry have a direct effect on IJV performance. Perceived value gap and information asymmetry can also mediate the relationship between control mechanisms (e.g., centralization, formalization, and socialization) and IJV performance. A sample of 152 Taiwanese IJVs in China showed that the direct effects of formalization and socialization on IJV performance satisfaction were significant. The empirical results showed that information asymmetry and perceived value gap mediated the formalization-performance and socialization-performance relationships. However, neither the direct effect of centralization nor the indirect effect through information asymmetry mediation on IJV performance was significant.