This paper contributes to the core research in international business (IB), namely the relation between multinationality and performance, and is concerned with the quality of past empirical research designs. On the basis of 49 studies, we critically evaluate the match between performance measures used in empirical studies and the underlying theoretical streams that explain the effects on benefits and costs of multinationality. Our findings indicate that authors still largely rely on overall financial performance measures. Theoretical arguments, in contrast, refer to specific benefit and cost positions that are better reflected in operational performance indicators. In our view, the idiosyncratic choice of the performance measures contributes to the varying results in past studies. We offer suggestions for improving future research designs.
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