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Challenges of Conducting Experimental Research in IHRM: Review and

Recommendations for Expatriation

Article in Academy of Management Proceedings · August 2019

DOI: 10.5465/AMBPP.2019.12357abstract

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Noethen, D., & Alcazar, R. (2020). Experimental research in expatriation and its
challenges: A literature review and recommendations. German Journal of Human
Resource Management, 34(2), 252–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/2397002220908424

[Accepted manuscript below, not the published version]

Experimental research in expatriation and its challenges:

A literature review and recommendations

Abstract

Via a systematic literature review, this paper draws attention to the alarming scarcity of

experimental studies and the ensuing shortness of evidence for causality in the field of

expatriate management. Only 17 articles could be identified, published over a timespan of

more than 20 years, which utilize randomized experiments or quasi-experiments on topics of

expatriation. Moreover, these articles show specific patterns, such as dealing exclusively with

pre-departure and on-assignment issues, or, in their majority, sampling individuals that

interact with expatriates rather than expatriates themselves. This lack of experimental studies

is problematic, as it is difficult to establish causality between different variables without the

conduction of experimental studies – yet many critical issues in expatriation are precisely

questions of causality. Hence, in this paper, we provide resources to help move the

expatriation field toward a more balanced use of different research methodologies and, thus,

a greater understanding of the many relationships uncovered in past research. First, we

identify four main challenges unique to conducting experimental research in the context of

expatriation: challenging data access, global sample dispersion, restricted manipulability of

variables, and cultural boundedness of constructs and interpretations. Second, we provide

1
strategies to overcome these challenges, based on studies included in the review as well as

taking ideas from neighboring fields such as cross-cultural psychology. The paper concludes

with a discussion of how experimental research can bring the field of expatriation forward

and improve the decision-making process of practitioners managing international assignees.

Introduction

Which personal characteristics promote expatriate work adjustment? What type of

organizational support fosters family adjustment during an expatriation? What conditions

improve the development of cross-cultural competencies during an international assignment?

What factors enhance knowledge transfer between expatriates and host country nationals

(HCNs)? These and other questions address critical issues that the field of expatriation,

alternatively called expatriate management, has been dealing with for the last decades.

During the last 40 years, a wealth of relationships between different constructs has been

discovered, helping to shed light on many of these questions. However, the existing evidence

seems mostly qualitative and correlational, and in many cases, verification of causality seems

to be missing.

Without a doubt, experimental research methods are the most potent tools to infer

causality (Antonakis et al., 2010; Cook et al., 2002). Yet some authors claim that

experimental methodologies, referring to both randomized experiments and quasi-

experiments, are used rather rarely in the context of international assignments (Fan and

Harzing, 2017). To date, we have no definite numbers on how many experimental studies

have been published studying the phenomena of expatriations (i.e., where an individual is

working temporarily outside of his or her home country). However, in the broader context of

International Human Resource Management (IHRM), experimental research seems

negligible. Most studies in the IHRM field are either correlational or qualitative (Chan, 2008;

2
Peterson, 2004), while randomized experimental and quasi-experimental studies are less

common.

Why should a lack of experimental studies and evidence of causality trouble us? Is

this not just the normal development of a field? Why should we raise the issue? Because

establishing causality has essential theoretical and practical implications, especially in the

field of expatriate management. First, a lack of causal evidence is problematic as the key

issues, and related research questions regarding the topic of international assignments are not

questions of correlation (such as “Do expatriates that adjust better also happen to perform

better?”), but mostly questions of causality (that is, “Do expatriates perform better because

they adjust better to their new work and environment?”). Not being able to give definitive

answers to causal questions significantly limits the empirical support we can provide for the

development of our theories. Second, international assignments constitute a substantial risk

for both the organization (due to their high strategic importance and cost) and for the

expatriate (due to the positive or negative impact on their career). Hence, causal evidence

could guide where to focus resources in order to generate a better outcome, avoid needless

investment, and prevent unnecessary strain on expatriates and their families. Furthermore, not

having evidence of causality may severely limit adoption of the findings into practice and

policymaking – or, even worse, decisions based on findings not supported by causal evidence

may have greater difficulty in obtaining the desired results. Therefore, we indisputably need

experimental studies in the field of expatriation.

It is important to note that in this “call to arms” (or lab coats), we draw on the logic of

triangulation between methods (Scandura and Williams, 2002). We argue that we need to

investigate the phenomena in expatriate management using different methodologies not only

for better replicability and convergence but also to compensate for the limitations of each

method. While randomized experiments and quasi-experimental studies demonstrate their

3
distinct strength in being able to establish causality, they are complementary to and ideally

informed by qualitative and correlational studies.

Thus, the goal of this paper is to contribute to the field of expatriate management first,

by raising awareness of the need to use randomized experimental and quasi-experimental

research, and second, by providing resources to help conduct such studies on phenomena

related to international assignments. As the extent of experimental research in the field of

expatriation remains unclear, the first research question that guides this paper is: How many

experimental studies on expatriation have been conducted, and what are their characteristics?

If we identify a low number of studies, given the strong necessity for causal evidence in the

field, we would furthermore pose a second research question: What are the reasons for this

apparent lack of experimental research? Specifically, what are the challenges for conducting

experimental studies in expatriation, and how can they be overcome?

To address the first research question, we provide a systematic review of the

expatriation literature to identify those studies that have utilized experimental and quasi-

experimental designs. We then analyze the identified articles in relation to topic area,

research question, experimental methodology, design, sample composition, and reference to

and testing of theory. To address the second research question, we first briefly discuss

potential reasons for this lack of experimental research and identify and describe the main

challenges that are unique to conducting experimental studies in the context of expatriation.

In a second step, we analyze strategies that have been undertaken in the studies identified by

the systematic literature review and supplement them with ideas taken from related streams

of research such as cross-cultural psychology.

4
The field of expatriation – Current state

International assignments continue to grow in number (Brookfield Global Relocation

Services, 2016) and are the most substantial investments per capita in workforce

globalization (Shaffer et al., 2012; Stroh et al., 2005). Thus, it is not surprising that

expatriation or expatriate management is one of the most prominent subfields in IHRM

(McNulty and Selmer, 2017). Since the 1980s, the motivation for expatriation research has

mostly been to aid multinational organizations in managing the issues faced by corporate

expatriates (Selmer, 2017). During these years, expatriation scholars have studied a variety of

topics along the expatriation cycle (Bonache et al., 2001): Pre-departure issues (e.g., selection

and training), issues during assignment (e.g., adjustment, compensation, or premature return),

as well as issues during and after repatriation (e.g., knowledge transfer, reverse culture shock,

or turnover). As Caligiuri and Bonache (2016) describe in their recent overview, some

research trends and topics in the field have changed and evolved over the years, such as the

increased importance of knowledge transfer via expatriates or the increased proportion of

short-term assignments. Other challenges related to international assignments have endured

and continue to attract the interest of researchers, such as assignee adjustment or the personal

characteristics and motivation that drive success during expatriation. Overall, this body of

work has unveiled multiple relationships between constructs that have informed research and

practice on important issues such as expatriate failure, expatriate adjustment, and expatriate

performance.

Recently, the field is showing signs of maturity. While previous studies conducted in

the field tended to be descriptive and exploratory (McNulty and Selmer, 2017), now, studies

are substantiated in theory (Dabic et al., 2015). Moreover, several meta-analyses have been

published summarizing a broad range of primary studies on different questions related to

international assignments (Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005; Mol et al., 2005; Morris and
5
Robie, 2001). However, despite all the progress made, the field still seems to be lacking

evidence for causality.

Notably, the expatriate management field provides some favorable conditions to

conduct experimental research. First, its focus on micro-phenomena lends itself more readily

to conducting experimental studies than other fields of IHRM and International Business

(Zellmer-Bruhn et al., 2016). Some of the relationships studied in the field involve

“treatments” such as the cultural training of individuals, which could easily be manipulated

and tested in an experimental setting. Second, the abundance of qualitative studies conducted

in the field provides detailed descriptions of critical issues that unveil mechanisms to test for

causality in an experimental setting. Third, the myriad of survey studies performed on

expatriation topics reveals moderators and mediators that will be extremely valuable in the

design of the experimental studies. Yet we are cognizant that expatriations are complex

phenomena to study due to their temporary nature and the difficult access to participants.

Hence, the importance of confirming whether these favorable conditions have been

capitalized and whether any major challenges are preventing researchers from conducting

experimental studies on expatriations.

How are experimental studies so potent in testing for causality? Would it not be

possible to gather evidence of causality using other methodologies? Given that randomized

experimental and quasi-experimental studies are still somewhat of a novelty in expatriation,

in the following section we give a brief overview of the concept of causality and explain

precisely why experimental research is so powerful in testing for it. Readers are welcome to

skip the next section if they are already familiar with these concepts.

6
Causality and experimental studies

The typical study types you find in Management and Social Science are interview-

based studies (i.e., qualitative studies, usually enriched by other data such as observational or

archival data), survey-based studies (i.e., quantitative, correlational studies), and

experimental studies (i.e., randomized experimental and quasi-experimental designs, where

the independent variable is manipulated to isolate the cause-effect relationship). All of these

different types of studies serve different purposes as they allow for different levels of data

richness, depths, generalizability (i.e., external validity), and causal inferences (i.e., internal

validity).

According to seminal work by Cook and Campbell (1979), three conditions are

necessary to infer causality: (1) The cause and effect covariate. (2) The cause precedes the

effect. (3) No other alternative explanations exist for the possible cause-effect relationship.

The most rigorous form of experimental studies, randomized experiments, sometimes called

true experiments, are the design of choice when researchers aim to test or infer a causal

relationship as they meet all three conditions. Quasi-experiments are the next best choice to

infer causality, although, as we will see, they are somewhat weaker in design and only meet

conditions 1 and 2 above. In comparison, qualitative studies and survey studies usually fulfill

condition 1, and, if they contain a time-lagged design, condition 2. Qualitative and

correlational methodologies can technically be used to infer causal relationships, yet it is very

difficult to infer causality unequivocally through their employment. Correlational studies

would necessitate complex designs and estimation conditions that are hardly ever met

(Antonakis et al., 2010).

How do randomized experiments achieve the three conditions of causality? Let us

take the potential causal relationship between cross-cultural training and expatriate

adjustment (Morris and Robie, 2001) as an example: First, randomized experimental studies
7
actively create variation in the independent variable through manipulation (i.e., creating one

group of expatriates that receives training and one that does not) to test if it coincides with

variation in the dependent variable (i.e., expatriate adjustment), thus meeting condition 1. It is

through this manipulation that randomized experiments ensure that the cause (receiving the

training) precedes the effect (improved expatriate adjustment), thereby fulfilling condition 2.

More importantly, randomized experiments are uniquely designed to eliminate all other

alternative explanations for the relationship between cause and effect (condition 3), which is

the most challenging condition to fulfill in social research (Trochim, 2000). To meet this

condition, first, researchers aim to eliminate or minimize the problem of endogeneity by

designing the equivalence of experimental groups. As the researchers cannot observe the

counterfactual in the same individual (i.e., what would the effect have been if the participant

had simultaneously received and not received the treatment), they aspire to create

experimental groups (control and treatment groups) that are as equivalent as possible. This is

achieved via random assignment of individuals to each experimental condition (Trochim,

2000). Through random assignment, the effect of variables outside the scope of the study

should average out across cases in the study, especially with larger sample sizes. Second,

researchers isolate the causal relationship by actively eliminating or controlling all other

factors that could potentially explain the change in the dependent variable (expatriate

adjustment), for example, by giving participants the same training under the same

circumstances (i.e., creating equivalence of settings and procedures).

Sometimes the phenomenon under exploration does not allow for random assignment

of participants to different conditions. This situation may occur because external factors

outside the control of the researcher determine who receives the “treatment” under

investigation (e.g., who is receiving training) or because the independent variable cannot be

manipulated (e.g., having certain language skills). In these situations, researchers can use
8
quasi-experimental designs, meaning that they assign participants to different conditions

based on pre-existing conditions at the risk of creating groups that are unequal in more than

one aspect. Thus, it is necessary to include additional control variables to prevent

confounding variables from being responsible for the cause-effect relationships, thereby

attempting to, although never able to, perfectly fulfill condition 3 (Trochim, 2000).

On other occasions, the “treatment” may be valuable or beneficial, such that

withholding it from a group of participants would be considered unethical. Under these

circumstances, researchers can resort to a switching replication design where all participants

receive the treatment, albeit at different times, and additional measurements are collected to

observe the counterfactual. An example of a switching replication design can have two

groups receiving treatment (X), the first group at Time 1 and the second group at Time 2 and

observations (O) are measured for both groups at Time 1, 2 and 3 (Group 1 O X O O and

Group 2 O O X O).

But of course, experimental studies also have important limitations: First, as already

mentioned, it may be impossible or unethical to create a treatment randomly and a control

group respectively, as some variables (e.g., personality traits, age, or gender) are difficult or

even impossible to manipulate (Chan, 2008), and some treatments too beneficial to withhold.

Second, it is difficult to recruit enough participants such that each experimental condition can

generate an effect size with enough statistical power to draw valid conclusions. Third, a

causal relationship derived from one experimental study has low generalizability as it is only

valid for the population that the study sample represented and for the contextual conditions

studied (Scandura and Williams, 2002). A more generalizable inference will require the use

of a random sample, multiple studies testing different samples of the population, or running

additional correlational studies (triangulation of methods). Fourth, the operationalization of

the constructs and the settings (e.g., a lab setting) might create a context that is too artificial
9
and lacks realistic cues (McGrath, 1981; in general, field experiments achieve better realism

than lab experiments).

Summing up, the field of expatriation seems to have a nature that is welcoming to

experimental research and has brought forth a wealth of relationships that would benefit from

tests for causal evidence. Thus, the natural assumption might be that experimental research

on issues of expatriation is well underway and starting to burgeon. To clarify whether this is

the case, below we present a review aimed at identifying how many and what type of

experimental studies have been conducted in this field.

Method

To answer our first research question, we performed a systematic literature review

(Grant and Booth, 2009) comprised of five steps. First, we defined our search strategy in

terms of sources, criteria, and search terms. We selected four of the main academic databases

– SCOPUS, ISI Web of Science, Business Source Premier, and ScienceDirect – to be

searched utilizing “*experiment*”, “scenario”, or “vignette” in combination with either

“expatriat*”, “inpatriat*”, “repatriat*”, or “international assign*” as search terms in the title,

keywords, and abstract. In terms of selection criteria, articles had to be published in peer-

reviewed journals in the fields of Management and/or Psychology, written in English, and

had to utilize randomized experimental or quasi-experimental designs to study expatriation

(i.e., either using an expatriate sample or explicitly studying a phenomenon in the context of

expatriation, for example by referencing expatriates in the experiment itself). We consciously

excluded experimental studies that focused on a potentially relevant topic (e.g., cross-cultural

topics), but not in the context of expatriation, as well as those studies that used migrants in

their sample (Al Ariss, 2010, distinguishes migrants from expatriates as they differ in the

nature of the movement and the temporariness of the stay). We are aware that this restriction

10
left us with fewer studies but are confident that the ones included represent expatriate

settings. In a second step, we conducted the actual search, which generated an initial 139

articles, 50 of which were duplicates across databases. We then reviewed the remaining 89

articles applying our selection criteria, discarding 77 articles because they either did not meet

our criteria for studying expatriation or did not use an experimental methodology, leaving us

with 12 articles matching our purpose. In a third step, we checked the references listed in the

selected articles (988 in total) to identify and review other potentially relevant articles,

thereby adding three more papers. In a fourth step, we performed a forward citation analysis

by reviewing the abstracts of all articles (610) that had cited the selected papers but did not

identify any additional articles that met our criteria. In the last step, correspondence with

authors of the selected articles as well as comments made by the blind reviewers of two

conference submissions led to the identification of two further articles (which neither used

the term experiment, vignette, or scenario in their respective abstracts). The analysis of

reference lists and forward citations did not yield any new articles here. Overall, our process

identified 17 articles that met our criteria. See Table 1 for details on the output generated by

the search protocol and the subsequent screening process.

-----------------------------------------------
Insert Table 1 about here
-----------------------------------------------

To identify patterns and characteristics of the selected papers, we then carefully

analyzed: The topic (i.e., selection & pre-departure, on assignment, and repatriation &

career), sub-topic, design (i.e., randomized experiment or quasi-experiment), theoretical

basis, role of theory (i.e., for hypothesis development, limited, or not applicable), setting (i.e.,

lab or field), mechanism of manipulation (i.e., vignette, intervention, or conjoint analysis),

description of procedure, sample type (i.e., expatriates, HCNs assumed to interact with

expatriates, or students of graduate or undergraduate programs with the potential to become

11
or interact with expatriates), sample nationality, sample size, and independent and dependent

variables. See Table 4 for an overview of the selected articles and the main criteria analyzed.

-----------------------------------------------
Insert Table 2 about here
-----------------------------------------------

Results

The systematic literature review revealed that there are very few - only 17 - articles published

that utilized a randomized experimental or quasi-experimental design in the field of

expatriation management. Moreover, out of these published papers, four were based on one

extensive longitudinal randomized experimental study (Van Bakel et al., 2011, 2014, 2016,

2017), while another publication included two studies in the same paper (Fan and Harzing,

2017). Hence, the 17 articles are based on data stemming from only 15 separate studies.

Moreover, it became evident that the use of experimental research in expatriation has

not been increasing over time. The publication dates of the 17 articles indicate a constantly

low level of such publications over the last 20 years with no visible development towards

broader use of experimental methodologies as the field matured (see Figure 1).

-----------------------------------------------
Insert Figure 1 about here
-----------------------------------------------

Interestingly, the articles were published in 14 different journals. Five of these

journals are main outlets for the expatriation field (Selmer, 2017): Journal of World Business

(JWB), International Journal of Human Resource Management (IJHRM), Cross Cultural

Management (CCM), Thunderbird International Business Review (TIBR), and Human

Resource Management (HRM). The remaining journals have a much broader outlook, such as

the Journal of Education and Work, Human Resource Development International, Human

Performance, International Journal of Psychology, Work & Stress, or Journal of Business

12
Research. This may be due to the authors of the papers coming from a variety of disciplines

and looking at expatriation from very different angles.

In the following paragraphs, we will refer to the 15 studies rather than the 17 articles

that resulted from them, to give a better overview of the work conducted. In terms of topics

studied, the analysis revealed that most studies investigated phenomena occurring on

assignment (nine studies), followed by selection and pre-departure issues (six studies), while

none studied a topic related to repatriation and career management. More specifically, the

two pre-departure sub-topics studied were willingness to accept an expatriation offer and

expatriate selection, while the on assignment sub-topics studied were expatriate adjustment

(sometimes in conjunction with expatriate performance) and interactions between HCNs and

expatriates. In terms of methodology, twelve studies were able to utilize randomized

experimental designs (80%), while three studies utilized quasi-experimental designs (20%).

Concerning participant recruitment and sample characteristics, the review revealed

that researchers focused on geographic regions that are typical expatriate locations, such as

the USA, European countries, China, and Korea. However, only a few researchers were able

to collect a large sample: two studies had a sample smaller than 50, six studies between 50

and 100, and only seven studies between 100 and 300. Regarding settings and mechanisms of

manipulation, most studies were conducted in the field utilizing vignettes rather than an

intervention: Ten studies were done in the field (five using vignettes, four using

interventions, and one using conjoint analysis) and five studies described utilizing a lab or a

classroom setting (four using vignettes and one using conjoint analysis). Researchers using

experimental vignette methodology (EVM) create realistic scenarios by manipulating the

independent variables and present the vignettes in text, picture, audio or video form to

participants to assess dependent variables (Aguinis and Bradley, 2014). Conjoint analysis,

alternatively called policy capturing, is a simultaneous evaluation of multiple characteristics

13
to state preferences and tradeoffs among them, revealing the implicit decision process to the

researcher.

The sample type was quite diverse as well, with only three studies recruiting

expatriates, with the other studies using participants that were assumed to interact with

expatriates (HCNs - two studies), might become expatriates, or would potentially interact

with expatriates in the near or distant future (such as employees of MNCs, undergraduate

students, and participants of Executive MBA, HR and MBA programs – ten studies).

As randomized experimental and quasi-experimental designs are often used for theory

building and theory testing, we expected to see theory play a critical role in the identified

articles. Surprisingly, none of the articles had the explicit goal of theory testing nor theory

building; nine articles (53%) used theory for hypothesis development, and eight articles

(47%) used theory either in a limited manner or did not make reference to a specific theory at

all.

In summary, there is good reason to be excited about the potential of experimental

research for our field. Even though the number of experimental studies identified was small,

researchers were able to use different designs, mechanisms of manipulation, and recruit a

variety of sample types, suggesting that experimental methodologies are well suited for

investigating expatriation phenomena. Yet we are also concerned, as contrary to what might

be expected due to the characteristics and maturity of the field, our analysis revealed the

distressing scarcity of experimental research in the field.

The obvious question to be asked is why this is the case, considering that

experimental studies are common in neighboring disciplines such as intercultural relations

and behavioral psychology as evidenced by the many articles using this methodology

published in their main outlets (e.g., International Journal of Intercultural Relations and

Journal of Applied Psychology). Is it because the typical outlets for expatriation research are
14
reluctant to publish papers using randomized experimental or quasi-experimental designs?

Recent calls from editors of top journals for more papers conducting experimental research

(Colquitt, 2008, for Academy of Management Journal, AMJ; Zellmer-Bruhn et al., 2016, for

Journal of International Business Studies, JIBS) seem to indicate the contrary. Is it because

researchers in expatriation are not familiar enough with randomized experimental and quasi-

experimental designs? We do not think so, seeing that researchers publishing in this field

come from disciplines such as psychology where conducting experimental research is

common, and knowing that selecting co-authors is always a potential strategy to strengthen

methodological gaps. Rather, many aspects discovered in our review, such as the use of

“alternative samples” rather than actual expatriates or the heavy reliance on vignette studies,

may point to specific challenges of conducting experimental studies in the context of

expatriation. Therefore, we decided to expand this literature review to include two important

aspects: First, the identification and analysis of the most important challenges of conducting

experimental research in the context of expatriation and second, the provision of concrete

strategies that researchers can use to overcome these challenges. Our ultimate goal is to

support scholars to conduct successful experimental studies on expatriation in the future.

Analysis of challenges

Our approach to identifying the unique challenges of conducting experimental studies

in the context of expatriation included four steps. First, we leveraged the work done by

Zellmer-Bruhn and colleagues (2016), who identified several reasons for the paucity of

experimental studies in International Business. Second, we reviewed the literature on

conducting IHRM, expatriate, and cross-cultural research (e.g., Chan, 2008; Matsumoto,

2003; Tharenou, 2017), paying special attention to difficult conditions that could be present

when conducting experimental studies. Third, we analyzed some common themes that

15
appeared in our systematic literature review. Last, we contacted the corresponding authors of

the 17 articles identified, requesting their expert opinion on this matter.

While certain challenges are inherent to conducting any type of experimental study,

such as controlling nuisance variables, assuring equivalence of lab settings, or

operationalizing variables (Cook et al., 2002), the above process revealed that the particular

nature of typical international assignments leads to certain unique difficulties. Specifically,

after reviewing all the information gathered, we identified four main challenges that may

explain why aiming to employ experimental research methods to study expatriation can be

such a daunting endeavor: 1) the challenging data access and recruitment of participants, 2)

the global dispersion of the sample, 3) the restricted manipulability of variables, and 4) the

cultural boundedness of constructs, interpretations, and results.

In the following, our aim is to better understand each challenge as well as potential

ways to overcome it. We present the challenges one by one following the same structure for

each: First providing a detailed description of the challenge, second, pointing out solution

strategies used in the studies identified in our systematic literature search, and third,

presenting further ideas to deal with these challenges based on studies conducted in

neighboring disciplines. For a quick overview of the strategies, see Table 3.

Challenging data access and participant recruitment

One of the greatest challenges in studying expatriates is that they are difficult to identify,

reach, and motivate to participate. First, the overall expatriate population is relatively small,

not every organization has expatriates, and in those that do, expatriates represent a very small

portion of their employees, i.e., 0.5 to 2.5% (Dickmann et al., 2006). Second, international

assignments are temporary in nature, and for certain research questions, studies need to be

conducted at a very specific point in time (e.g., immediately before or after arrival, after a

few months, etc.). Third, many expatriates hold higher hierarchical positions, as confirmed
16
by a recent study with large multinational organizations demonstrating that 30% of

international assignments consist of managerial positions (Brookfield Global Relocation

Services, 2016). This complicates matters further, as the upper echelons of multinational

organizations are notoriously difficult to access (Van Witteloostuijn, 2015), the organizations

themselves may try to shield their expatriates from “being bothered”, and expatriates

themselves may simply not be motivated to give up their time for a study with no direct

benefit for them. Last, experimental studies - especially in lab and intervention studies – may

require participants to dedicate more time to the project than filling out a survey, making data

access and participant recruitment extremely difficult.

Strategies used to assure data access and participant recruitment. In the papers

identified through the systematic literature review, the authors used several strategies to

either address or work around the difficulty of accessing and recruiting expatriates. The few

authors who did recruit expatriates either achieved this by leveraging their personal networks

combined with employing the snowball technique (e.g., Bikos and Uruk, 2006), advertising

their study in a wide range of physical and online sites frequented by expatriates

(international schools, expatriate fairs, online networks, etc.) and offering a concrete

incentive for the expatriates (such as providing them with a local host; e.g., Van Bakel et al.,

2011), or cooperating with MNCs and government institutions (e.g., Anderzén and Arnetz,

1997).

As recruiting expatriates proves difficult, most studies followed a maybe surprising

strategy: instead of targeting expatriates themselves, they focused on individuals that interact

with expatriates or that may become expatriates (or interact with them) in the future. For

example, Fan and Harzing (2017) recruited Chinese HCNs working for foreign MNCs who

were assumed to interact with expatriates in real life and presented participants with different

vignettes in which the behavior of a hypothetical expatriate superior was manipulated.

17
Focusing on selection issues, Petzold (2017) and Ones and Visweswaran (1999) recruited

managers responsible for selecting candidates and/or managing expatriates and presented

them with hypothetical curricula vitae or candidate profiles. A different approach was taken

by Caligiuri and Philipps (2003), Kim and Froese (2012), Wagner and Westaby (2009), and

Warneke and Scheider (2011), who targeted individuals that might become expatriates in the

future in order to study the effect of realistic job previews or their willingness to accept an

expatriation assignment.

Participants in the above “workarounds” were recruited either through cooperation

with large MNCs (e.g., Kim and Froese, 2012), using participants of Executive MBA, MBA,

and HR graduate programs (e.g., Beaudoin et al., 2012; Tung, 2008), using a crowdsourcing

marketplace (such as Mturk or Wenjuan; Fan and Harzing, 2017), or, following an approach

with somewhat less external validity, recruiting undergraduate students (e.g., Thomas and

Meglino, 1997).

In summary, most of the studies published circumvented the challenge of access to

expatriates rather than directly addressing it. The ability to do so is, of course, tightly linked

to the underlying research question, but this approach does work for a wide array of research

questions. Moreover, it is well-aligned with the growing trend to put greater focus on the

perspective of HCNs working with expatriates (Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016).

Further strategies. Another strategy to gain access to “actual” expatriates is to focus

not only on traditional corporate expatriates, but to include or even exclusively target

different types of expatriates such as inpatriates, self-initiated expatriates (SIEs),

governmental personnel (bureaucratic, diplomatic, or military), or employees of international

organizations (e.g., United Nations and World Bank), non-profit organizations (e.g., CARE

international), or non-governmental organizations (NGOs; e.g., Doctors Without Borders).

Such a shift in focus may result in a more accurate representation of today’s expatriate
18
population and may expand the phenomena studied. Moreover, beyond simply increasing the

size of the target population, including groups such as SIEs or repatriates could result in a

greater turnout as they may be more motivated to participate.

Eventually, one of the strategies that may be most useful to identify and reach out to

expatriates (including corporate expatriates), especially if going through an MNC is not an

option, is to leverage online social and professional platforms (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook,

Twitter or Meetup), as well as alumni networks. Yildiz and Fey (2016) successfully used this

strategy to recruit 159 alumni from a prominent European business school for their field

experiment studying the role of cross-cultural similarities in cross-border mergers and

acquisitions (M&As).

Global dispersion of the sample

One of the more obvious challenges of studying expatriates, especially using randomized

experiments and quasi-experiments, is the fact that study participants may be scattered

around the globe. This not only renders lab experiments extremely difficult but also

complicates field experiments (and vignettes) as it is almost impossible to control the process

of the intervention and ensure that settings and procedures are equivalent for all participants.

An additional hurdle when collecting multiple-source data (e.g., subordinate, expatriate, and

supervisor) or higher-level data (dyad- or team-level) is that stakeholders are often located in

different countries or even continents and/or speak different languages. Accordingly, data

collection may turn into a very costly process due to traveling, replicating setting conditions

across countries, translation, and/or programming.

Strategies used to deal with the global dispersion of the sample. The authors of the

reviewed experimental studies on expatriation used two strategies to deal with the global

dispersion of their samples. The first was to design the studies – and here specifically the

operationalization of independent and dependent variables – in a way that did not necessitate
19
the presence of the researcher. This was mostly achieved by relying on material that could be

sent via postal service or email (e.g., Petzold, 2017; Warneke and Schneider, 2011), and a

marked reliance on experimental vignette methodology (EVM; e.g., Fan and Harzing, 2017;

Wagner and Westaby, 2009). An exceptional approach was taken by Van Bakel and

colleagues (2011, 2014, 2016, and 2017), who chose a manipulation that was based on

interactions between expatriates and an informed third party (local hosts), combined with

survey-measurable outcomes.

The second strategy was to focus on only one location that most likely hosts a large

number of potential participants. Bikos and Uruk (2006) chose the Turkish capital Ankara to

conduct their quasi-experimental field study focusing on American female expatriates in

Turkey, while Anderzen and Arnetz, recruited assignees of MNCs and governmental

organizations headquartered in Sweden - prior to departure for their assignments - to run their

longitudinal quasi-experimental study. Similarly, although not targeting expatriates but

managerial samples, Beaudoin and colleagues (2012) and Tung (2008) took advantage of the

pool of potential study participants present at their respective research institutions and

conducted their randomized experimental studies in a classroom setting with managers and

executives enrolled in MBA and executive programs.

Further strategies. The main avenue for dealing with global dispersion in future

studies is leveraging technological solutions, and this to an even greater extent than realized

in the studies included in the systematic review. Examples of promising tools and

technologies are virtual chat rooms, specific software to create scenarios online, or virtual

reality. For example, when an interaction is needed between different locations, virtual chat

rooms (text or video) may be utilized to enable real-time interaction (e.g., Niederhoffer and

Pennebaker, 2002), to keep costs down, and to assure equivalence of procedures. In terms of

software, z-tree software has been extensively used in experimental economics (e.g.,
20
Fischbacher, Gächter, and Fehr, 2001). This software recreates scenarios online and allows

for interaction between participants, thus enabling different participants in separate locations

to collaborate in the same scenario in real-time (see Fischbacher, 2007, for an extensive

description of the software). Finally, an exciting technology that has started to be utilized in

experimental lab research is virtual reality, which could be used, for example, in developing

more realistic and interactive cross-cultural trainings or realistic job previews for expatriates.

This particular technology adds realism, a limitation of typical lab settings, without reducing

any of its strengths. Of course, unless used for a battery of different experimental studies, this

technology will be a cost driver. Studies such as the work of Riva and colleagues (2007) give

a taste of the power of virtual reality in lab settings – in their study, they successfully used

this technology as a means to elicit emotions in a lab experiment.

Restricted manipulability of variables

In experimental research, the manipulation of independent variables is key to prove

causality. Yet many key independent variables in expatriation research cannot be

manipulated in an unrestricted way (Cook et al., 2002). For example, a meta-analysis on

determinants and consequences of adjustment (Mol et al., 2005) confirmed a relationship

between certain personality traits such as extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness

in expatriates and expatriate performance. To test this relationship experimentally,

researchers would need to manipulate the participants’ personality, but personality is a

relatively stable characteristic that does not change over time and is therefore not

“changeable” by a researcher. The same problem exists with variables such as culture,

gender, international experience, or family situation. The restricted manipulability of

dispositional variables like those mentioned will force the researcher to choose between using

creative ways to manipulate the variables, such as the use of priming or vignettes, to be able

to conduct a randomized experiment or considering a different design alternative like quasi-

21
experiments. Priming is a strategy commonly used in psychological studies. It works by

exposing participants to a stimulus that will unconsciously influence their subsequent

response, for example, by activating cognitions and emotions such as memories, associations,

or stereotypical beliefs (Webster and Sell, 2007). For quasi-experiments, the researcher will

measure the dispositional variable in participants and sort them into different experimental

groups based on this measurement but will add design elements to ensure that the different

groups are as equivalent as possible in relation to all other variables critical for the study.

Priming or having to match participants between conditions can complicate the attainment of

an adequate sample size (particularly when a sample with very specific characteristics is

needed). While this is a common problem in experimental research, it is especially

pronounced in expatriation.

Strategies used to deal with the restricted manipulability of variables. Several of the

experimental studies on expatriation reviewed for this paper did not have to address this

challenge as they focused on research questions – such as the effects of interventions – with

easily manipulable independent variables (e.g., Caligiuri and Phillips, 2003; Van Bakel et al.,

2017). However, even when the variable is technically easy to manipulate, ethical concerns

may arise, such as deception (in “placebo groups”) or withholding a potentially favorable

treatment. In these cases, a typical strategy is described in the randomized experimental study

by Van Bakel and colleagues, who offered the participants that did not receive treatment

during the study to receive it after the project was concluded. An alternative to minimize

these ethical concerns could be the use of switching replication designs where all participants

receive the treatment, but each group at different times.

Those researchers whose research questions did involve independent variables with

restricted manipulability tended to follow one of three approaches: using a quasi-

experimental design, developing hypothetical scenarios through vignettes, or using priming

22
to increase the salience of the condition they wanted to study. Authors such as Anderzen and

Arnetz (1997) and Bikos and Uruk (2006) chose a quasi-experimental design. In the latter

study, the authors employed a matched-sampling approach with a within-subjects design by

recruiting American and Turkish counselors with matching education and years of practice

and having each expatriate receive counseling from counselors of each nationality. By far,

the more common approach was to develop hypothetical scenarios where variables like

gender, nationality, level of education (e.g., Petzold, 2017; Tung, 2008), and even personality

traits (Ones and Viwesvaran, 1999) were manipulated. Lastly, Fan and Harzing (2017) used

priming to manipulate ethnic identity self-view (i.e., the importance of their ethnic identity to

participants in comparison to other social identities) via a text scenario. More concretely,

they asked participants to imagine themselves in a new work context in which either their

ethnic identity or their professional identity was explicitly valued, thereby varying the

salience of ethnic identity.

Further strategies. The main strategies used in the studies reviewed are consistent

with those found in other literatures and disciplines to deal with restricted manipulability.

Below, we will elaborate on techniques to consider when applying these strategies. First,

scholars can use several approaches to reduce the issue of potentially non-equivalent groups

in quasi-experiments, (see Trochim, 2000, for more information). For example, propensity

score matching is a technique that renders the treatment and control groups more comparable

by statistically matching members between groups to be as similar as possible with reference

to specific observable characteristics related to the independent and dependent variable.

Another technique is to control confounding variables, i.e., to include additional control

variables in the study that, according to theory, should also affect the dependent variable.

Moreover, it is important to choose the design of the study carefully, i.e., to decide how many

pre-tests and post-tests to include, and in what sequence for each group. Second, when
23
researchers are studying difficult to manipulate variables such as dispositional variables, they

can use priming. This technique makes the “treatment” salient by relying on memory or on

introducing “hidden” cues. As an example, Vandor and Franke (2016), instead of randomly

exposing some participants to extensive cross-cultural experience, sampled participants who

already possessed such experience and varied the salience of participants’ memories of their

international experience by asking them to write a short essay before they performed the

study task. The technique of introducing “hidden” cues can be implemented, for example, by

presenting a list of scrambled words and asking participants to form correct words out of the

scrambled letters. In the treatment condition, most of the words represent aspects of the

characteristic the researchers want to prime. Instead of word lists, images or videos may also

be used.

Cultural boundedness

One of the defining characteristics of an international assignment – and at the same time one

of its main challenges – is that expatriates temporarily work in a country that is culturally

different from their own (Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016). It is hardly surprising that these

cultural differences may also complicate the conduction of experimental and any other type

of studies in the global context. Because culture influences how we feel, think, and behave, it

has an impact on many different outcomes such as sense-making, decision-making, or

communication. Thus, instructions or references to constructs given to study participants

which are clear and unambiguous in one language or culture may carry a different meaning,

be confusing, or even non-existent in another. Relationships between variables that hold in

one (cross-)cultural setting may be moot in another. This cultural boundedness has

implications for the operationalization of constructs, measurement, data analysis, and

interpretation of findings. First, regarding the aim of equivalence of the operationalization of

study variables, it is important to note that this is not limited to semantic equivalence in terms
24
of translation. Rather, it includes the meaning attached to the different constructs in each

culture (i.e., construct equivalence; Chan, 2008). For example, the same construct may have a

different scope and include different aspects in different contexts, such as the construct of an

immediate family which has a greater scope in Asia and the Middle East, including

grandparents and sometimes even cousins, than in Western countries where only the parents

and children are included. Second, researchers need to be cognizant of the impact of culture

on measurement: Participants from different cultures may have different predispositions to

use response scales (Chan, 2008). For example, “extreme” negative answers on a scale (e.g.,

“I completely disagree”) freely chosen in one cultural context may be politely avoided in

another, thus artificially creating different levels of variability in a variable. Moreover,

culture may affect the level of familiarity or motivation to comply with different data

collection methods, hence impacting the participant’s response set (e.g., social desirability,

Matsumoto, 2003). Third, as a result, cultural boundedness may complicate data analysis as

cultural variance may be confounded with the manipulation effect, and results may, therefore,

be difficult to interpret (Chan, 2008; Matsumoto, 2003). This separation of cultural variance

from the manipulation effect is critical when the researcher is aiming to infer causality

between the independent variable and the dependent variable. Lastly, researchers need to be

aware that after addressing all these cultural issues, a causal relationship found is only valid

for the population the sample represented and for the context tested. Further generalizations

(across cultures) need to be supported by separate replication studies.

Strategies used to deal with cultural boundedness. Our review revealed that four

strategies were used to deal with certain aspects of cultural boundedness. First, some authors

avoided the need for translation and cultural adaptation by ensuring that the sample was only

drawn from the same culture in which the scales and study material had been developed and

tested (usually North-American; Thomas and Meglino, 1997; Thomas and Toyne, 1995).
25
Second, when participants had different mother tongues, several authors such as Kim and

Froese (2012) ensured a proper translation and back-translation of materials as prescribed by

Brislin (1970), and some additionally included a check for equivalence in meaning, either

through focus groups or experts (e.g., Fan and Harzing, 2017). In a third approach, some

authors used English language fluency as a prerequisite for their participants from different

cultures (e.g., Van Bakel and colleagues, 2017), while others assumed (English) fluency in

their sample of managerial participants working in an American MNC (e.g., Caligiuri and

Phillips, 2003), or assumed fluency in their sample of participants in graduate programs

where the language of instruction was English (e.g., Tung, 2008). It should be noted, though,

that researchers utilizing the second or third approach still need to pay attention to the impact

of the language and location setting, which could prime for the cultural values associated

with the testing location and/or the language used. Such was the case of Akkermans and

colleagues (2010), who studied the behavior of Dutch nationals when playing a prisoner’s

dilemma game. The participants were selected from those who had lived in an Anglophone

culture and spoke fluent English. Their findings revealed that when the game was conducted

entirely in English, the participants displayed more competitive behaviors than when the

game was conducted in Flemish.

Further strategies. While the strategies used in the reviewed studies are limited to

dealing with implications of cultural boundedness for the operationalization of constructs,

neighboring literatures, especially cross-cultural psychology, offer further suggestions on

how to deal with the implications for measurement, data analysis, and interpretation. First,

when using a scale that was validated in a different culture, a simple and elegant yet time-

consuming strategy is for researchers to re-test construct validity (i.e., ensure the scale

measures the construct it is intended to measure) in the target culture. One way to confirm

that the scale developed in a new language is comparable to the original is through
26
confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory, as suggested by Reise, Widaman, and

Pugh (1993). But even in cross-cultural psychology, this practice of validating scales for

different cultures has not yet been fully adopted (Chan, 2008; Matsumoto, 2003). Second,

another interesting strategy to overcome cultural issues related to measurement is the use of

situational judgment tests (SJT). This approach includes developing realistic scenarios for the

most appropriate to the least appropriate response as assessed by experts. These SJTs can be

constructed for each target culture and can be distributed via email, regular mail, or managed

via a website. Chan and Schmitt (2005) provide detailed information on features and how to

develop SJTs. Third, a strategy to address the effects of cultural boundedness on

measurement and data analysis is described by Chan (2001) and Chan and Schmitt (1997).

These studies include statistical analyses that can be employed to isolate method variance

from operationalization variance, and method variance from culture variance, respectively.

Lastly, in order to address the issue of generalizability of findings in experimental research

across cultures, and as an alternative to having a multitude of cultures represented in one

sample – which given the issues of data access, global dispersion and cultural boundedness

seems unrealistic and problematic –, researchers could conduct multiple studies focusing on

one culture at a time. These multiple studies then serve as replications that enhance external

validity through the convergence of results.

In summary, the unique challenges that scholars have to deal with when conducting

experimental studies in the context of international assignments may seem daunting, but there

are several ways to address or at least work around these challenges (for a quick overview,

see Table 3). Therefore, they should not deter the interested researcher from taking an

experimental approach to questions of expatriation.

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Insert Table 3 about here
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27
 Addressing all of these challenges at once is, of course, almost impossible. Yet,

analyzing the strategies applied in the studies included in the systematic literature review, we

identified three exemplary studies that employed several techniques to overcome the

challenges described and represent a variety of designs, settings, and samples, namely the

studies by Fan and Harzing (2017), Van Bakel, Gerritsen, and Van Oudenhoven (2014), and

Warneke and Scheider (2011). We provide a more detailed overview of these studies in Table

4. However, we encourage anyone interested in conducting experimental research in the

context of international assignments to read the full articles.

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Insert Table 4 about here
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Discussion

Experimental research is an indispensable tool in the study of expatriation topics as this

methodology provides crucial evidence of cause and effect and in doing so advances our

understanding of the vast number of relationships uncovered through qualitative and

correlational research. Yet, our systematic review of previous experimental studies on

expatriation, revealed their alarming scarcity, demonstrating a constantly low number of

respective publications over the last 20 years, with only 17 publications based on 15

experimental studies in total. This evidences a striking underutilization of an essential

methodology. To help remedy this situation, we expanded our focus beyond a mere literature

review and identified the unique challenges present when conducting randomized

experiments and quasi-experiments in the context of international assignments and provided

a range of strategies to overcome them.

Beyond these two main contributions – raising awareness of the disquieting lack of

experimental studies on expatriation topics and providing a unique resource for researchers

28
who are interested in conducting such studies –, the following discussion will further add to

the literature on managing expatriates by pointing out where and how applying the

experimental methodology can drive the field of expatriation forward and help clarify some

of the main questions the field is dealing with, from a research as well as a practitioner’s

perspective.

Implications for research in the field of expatriation

The literature review and subsequent analysis presented in this paper have several

implications for research, especially experimental research, in the field of expatriation. First,

there are a couple of observations stemming from the literature review that merit additional

discussion regarding the topics studied, the type of samples used, and the methodological

specificities. Second, the strength of experimental research in revealing new evidence

sometimes contradicting established assumptions warrants further analysis.

In terms of topic, the absence of experimental studies on repatriates is quite surprising

as repatriation has been extensively covered (Bossard and Peterson, 2005; Caligiuri and

Lazarova, 2001), such that there is a wealth of relationships found that call for experimental

testing. Moreover, the challenges of data access and global dispersion should be less

demanding when focusing on repatriates as they are often more motivated to share their

experience and are easier to reach geographically. More importantly, it is crucial to study this

topic area as some issues related to repatriation are quite costly for organizations and would

greatly benefit from more evidence regarding causal relationships. For example, it has been

well-known for about two decades now that organizations experience difficulties in retaining

their repatriates (Bossard and Peterson, 2005; Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001). This turnover is

extremely expensive for organizations, considering the forfeited investment in repatriates, the

loss of skills, knowledge, and networks acquired and developed abroad, and the need for

replacement of the individual (Chiang et al., 2018). Previous research has identified a range
29
of factors predicting repatriate turnover, such as perceived underutilization of repatriates’

experience and skills, fewer responsibilities and/or lower status in comparison to their prior

job, or perceived inadequate organizational support to aid their repatriation (Doherty and

Dickmann, 2012; Pattie et al., 2010). However, we do not have any causal evidence as to

which factor or combination of factors is truly responsible for repatriate turnover. This is

where experimental research could make a difference and identify the underlying causal

factor(s). Different types of experimental studies could be conducted, such as randomized

experiments presenting vignettes to expatriates while on assignment testing for reactions to

different return scenarios, or quasi-experiments involving a broad range of controls and

matched samples of repatriates who experience different return conditions in their

organizations.

In terms of sample, a less surprising observation resulting from our analysis is the

scarcity of studies with the participation of actual expatriates. This lack of external validity

concerning the samples used may – deservedly – lead to some suspicion and critical

questions. Researchers can therefore follow two approaches to increase trust and external

validity in experimental studies: 1) The first would be to “simply” recruit more expatriates or,

depending on the research question, repatriates, inpatriates, or other parties that actually do

interact with the former, employing the strategies suggested in the section on challenges. 2)

The second approach would be to use triangulation of methods, where, for example, the same

research question is tackled via a survey in the field with expatriates and then tested

experimentally with other samples. This would mean that experimental research has to build

closely on qualitative and correlational studies.

In terms of methodology, the analysis revealed a scarcity of lab studies and an

overbearing reliance on vignette methodology (as opposed to an intervention), which may

lead to internal validity concerns. When it is not possible to conduct lab studies using an
30
intervention methodology – which has the strongest internal validity and realism –

researchers can opt for a broader mix of methodologies, with more elaborate designs and a

stronger reliance on triangulation of methods. They could, for example, first conduct a

vignette-lab randomized experiment, followed by an intervention-field quasi-experiment and

finalizing with a correlational survey.

Last but not least, our work has revealed the power of experimental studies to shed

new light on the understanding of long-established relationships and sometimes even

challenge widespread assumptions. Take as an example the work of Van Bakel and

colleagues (2014), who demonstrated that, contrary to held beliefs, going on an international

assignment decreased the expatriates’ intercultural competence (specifically social initiative

and open-mindedness) during the first two years of the assignment, unless contact with a

local host or buddy buffered this decrease. These findings are especially important as

international assignments are often used as a means to develop skills such as cross-cultural

competence and global leadership (Caligiuri, 2006; Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016) and point

to measures that might have to be taken for such assignments to produce the desired effects.

Another example is the work of Fan and Herzing (2017), who questioned the practice of

selecting expatriates who share the same ethnicity as HCNs and the underlying assumption

that the former have an “automatic” advantage in gaining HCNs’ trust and in relation to their

willingness to share knowledge. Conducting a randomized experiment followed by a quasi-

experiment, they found that trust is not a given between expatriates and HCNs of the same

ethnicity, but rather that expatriates and HCNs first have to believe that sharing the same

ethnicity is important. Only then did HCNs perceive expatriates as more trustworthy and

reported a higher intention to share knowledge. More studies of this type are needed to clarify

the questions in our field and help support or refute some of the dominant beliefs.

31
Limitations

Given the focus of the study, we acknowledge certain limitations to our results and their

implications. First, we worked with a rather strict definition of experimental studies on

expatriation, focusing only on those that either involved concrete expatriation phenomena or

used an expatriate sample. Of course, there are numerous experimental studies, especially in

the area of cross-cultural psychology, that investigate phenomena that may bear relevance for

expatriates and international assignments. Yet they are carried out in different contexts and

with different samples, so their results cannot be directly generalized to the expatriation

context. Nevertheless, future research might profit from looking into results obtained in

related literatures that may have relevance for expatriation. Second, we only looked at

published studies to assure a certain quality of the experimental studies conducted. In doing

so, we might have overlooked several experimental studies that have not yet been published

either because they were conducted recently or because they are meeting resistance from

outlets that might be reluctant to publish experimental studies. These studies would not only

contribute to a better overview of the extent of studies conducted but could also offer further

insight into strategies that have been successfully applied to overcome challenges, such that

they should be sought out in the future. Third, we do not provide a list of all possible

challenges that are unique to experimental studies in the context of international assignments,

but rather focus on broader and more prominent obstacles. Hence, researchers might find

themselves with very particular impediments to which we have not been able to offer

solutions.

Directions for future research – how experimental methodology can drive the
field of expatriation

In this section, we develop ideas relating to how applying experimental methodology

can advance the field of expatriation by creating a greater understanding of – and eventually

32
giving closure to – some of the most prominent questions in the field. More specifically, we

present two specific suggestions for such undertakings.

First, according to Caligiuri and Bonache (2016), one of the evolving challenges of

global mobility is a change in purposes of international assignments, with knowledge transfer

between headquarters and different subsidiaries having gained in importance. Accordingly,

expatriate knowledge transfer is a rising topic in research on international assignments, yet

this research is plagued by several issues. As is the case with research on knowledge transfer

at large, researchers of expatriate knowledge transfer stem from many different disciplines.

As a result, the investigated antecedents of expatriate knowledge transfer are derived from a

range of very different theories, and there is a lack of convergence across studies on which

factors predict knowledge transfer and what is the direction of influence of some

relationships (Burmeister et al., 2019; Wang and Noe, 2010). For example, job performance,

which is often theorized to be an outcome of knowledge transfer (Reychav and Weisberg,

2009), may actually be an antecedent (De Vries et al., 2006) and the same is true for job

satisfaction (De Vries et al., 2006; Trivellas et al., 2015). This is where experimental research

can drive the field ahead and help provide a clearer picture. Researchers could conduct a

randomized experiment using conjoint analysis to identify what combination of factors

promote knowledge transfer between expatriates and HCNs (or inpatriates and headquarter

employees, or repatriates and home country colleagues). On the question of the direction of

causality – e.g., is performance an antecedent or a consequence of knowledge transfer? –

randomized lab experiments are best suited to test for the direction of influence. Researchers

could conduct a randomized lab experiment manipulating performance in a given area (e.g.,

through training) and then measuring knowledge transfer behaviors on a respective task,

followed by a similar experiment where researchers manipulate the opportunity to transfer

knowledge and then measure performance on a respective task.

33
 Second, an enduring topic of global mobility is the study of expatriate adjustment for

which spouse adjustment is one of its main antecedents (Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005;

Hechanova et al., 2003). Today, correlational studies predict that when expatriate spouses do

not adjust properly to the host country conditions, a premature return of the entire family

from the international assignment becomes more likely (e.g., Takeuchi et al., 2002). Yet we

do not know what is responsible for their lack of adjustment or even more important, what

kind of support could help them adjust effectively. If we were to conduct experimental

research for this issue, we would not only provide evidence that would be useful for

preventing or minimizing the multiple negative consequences for expatriates and their

families such as a truncated career and excessive stress on marital and family well-being, but

also the negative consequences for the organization such as diminished performance of the

expatriate during the assignment and the costs associated with a potential premature return.

Hence, future research can aim at inferring causality between the host country conditions and

their impact on the spouse adjustment or, alternatively, provide causal evidence for

relationships between organizational support practices or elements of expatriate packages and

an adequate spouse adjustment. A possible question for investigation would be whether

providing coaching support to expatriate spouses improves their adjustment to the host

country conditions. A researcher could conduct a longitudinal field randomized experiment

using a switching replication design. In comparison to other suggested designs, this study

would require greater resources (e.g., coaches) and would take longer to complete (e.g.,

measuring variables at different points in time, conducting the specified number of coaching

sessions). However, if the researcher could recruit spouses of expatriates, conducting a field

experiment would add more realism to the study and could be of greater value to the

participants.

34
 In addition to clarifying some of the pressing questions in expatriation research,

experimental methodology can also help address novel issues in the expatriate management

field, such as: What conditions in emerging countries deter potential candidates from

accepting an international assignment? What type of support can aid the adjustment of non-

traditional expatriate families (e.g., when the expatriate spouse is a male or when the

expatriate has a same-sex partner)? Which forms of assignment enable better expatriate

performance? As you can see, there are many opportunities for those scholars willing to get

their feet wet. Such efforts will not only pay off in terms of high practical relevance and

influence, but also in terms of high publishability, given that several editors have called for

researchers to submit experimental studies to their journals (Colquitt, 2008, for AMJ;

Zellmer-Bruhn et al., 2016, for JIBS).

Practical implications

While this paper mainly addresses researchers, there are some clear implications for the

practice of expatriate management as well. The ramifications of our work for practitioners

can be separated into first, the direct implications of the findings from the literature review

and the challenges identified, and second, the implications stemming from having a larger

body of experimental research studying the phenomena of expatriation. Starting with the

former, practitioners may become more cautious in relation to using recommendations that

are not evidence-based and will pay more attention to the provision of evidence of causality.

Another implication – admittedly maybe optimistic – is that organizations with a large pool

of different types of expatriates may show increased interest in experimental research

collaborations in order to assure that the measures they are currently investing in do achieve

the hoped-for results.

As to the practical implications of having a larger body of experimental expatriation

research, we propose that organizations would become more cost-effective and efficient in
35
many of their expatriate management practices. For example, first, organizations may

become more effective in the selection and delivery of benefits in expatriation packages (i.e.,

which benefits to be managed by the company, which to be managed by the expatriates

themselves, which outsourced, and which to be eliminated). With such a targeted effort,

expatriate packages can be streamlined with the potential benefit of being less costly and

easier to manage. Second, organizations may become more effective in remedying the

challenges that can put at risk the performance of the expatriate, the accomplishment of the

goals of the international assignment, and the retention of the expatriate once repatriated.

With specific causal evidence that can aid in minimizing or even eliminating those

challenges, organizations will be able to capture greater return on investment from

expatriation, improving the impact at the individual (e.g., expatriate performance), unit (e.g.,

subsidiary performance) and even organizational level (e.g., company reputation,

development of talent for global positions).

Conclusion

We are convinced that the time is right and that the field is ripe for randomized experiments

and quasi-experiments to take root in expatriation. We hope that we can inspire some passion

for the possibilities and fruitfulness of conducting these types of studies, as well as the urgent

need to provide evidence for causal relationships in the field. Such evidence not only informs

large investments of resources in organizations but also greatly affects the life of its

employees and their families.

References

References marked with one asterisk (*) indicate publications included in the systematic
literature review of experimental studies on expatriation.

Aguinis H and Bradley KJ (2014) Best practice recommendations for designing and

36
 implementing experimental vignette methodology studies. Organizational Research
Methods 17(4): 351–371.
Akkermans D, Harzing AW and Van Witteloostuijn A (2010) Cultural accommodation and
language priming: Competitive versus cooperative behavior in a prisoner’s dilemma
game. Management International Review 50(5): 559–583.
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Table 1. Search output and results of the screening process for the literature review on
experimental studies on expatriations.

Initial Not met Adequate

Search protocol output Duplicate criteria unique
Scopus 54 45 9
ISI Web of Science 37 24 10 3
ScienceDirect 6 4 2 0
Business Source Premier 42 22 20 0
Subtotal Database 139 50 77 12

References of selected articles 988 3

Forward citations of selected articles 610 0
Expert recommendations 4 1 1 2
Total 1741 17
Not met criteria: articles either not studying an expatriation topic and utilizing or not using
an experimental research methodology; adequate unique: article that met our criteria and had
not appeared in any previous database researched or step in the protocol.

41
Table 2. Summary of articles included in the systematic literature review on experimental
studies on expatriation
Article Study Author(s) Year Journal Topic Sub-topic
1 1 Fan and Harzing 2017 Journal of World Business Selection & Expatriate selection
predeparture
1 2 Fan and Harzing 2017 Journal of World Business Selection & Expatriate selection
predeparture
2 3 Petzold 2017 Journal of Education and Work Selection & Expatriate selection
predeparture
3 4 Van Bakel, Van 2017 Human Resource Development On assignment Expatriate adjustment
Oudenhoven and Gerritsen International
4 4 Van Bakel, Gerritsen and 2016 Thunderbird International Business On assignment Expatriate adjustment &
Van Oudenhoven Review performance
5 4 Van Bakel, Gerritsen and 2014 The International Journal of Human On assignment Expatriate adjustment
Van Oudenhoven Resource Management
6 5 Beaudoin, Dang, Fang and 2012 Journal of International Accounting, On assignment Interaction between
Tsakumis Auditing and Taxation HCNs and expatriate
7 6 Kim and Froese 2012 The International Journal of Human Selection & Willingness to accept an
Resource Management predeparture expatriation offer
8 4 Van Bakel, Gerritsen and 2011 Thunderbird International Business On assignment Expatriate adjustment &
Van Oudenhoven Review performance
9 7 Warneke and Schneider 2011 Cross Cultural Management Selection & Willingness to accept an
predeparture expatriation offer
10 8 Wagner and Westaby 2009 International Journal of psychology Selection & Willingness to accept an
predeparture expatriation offer
11 9 Tung 2008 Human Resource Management Selection & Expatriate selection
predeparture
12 10 Bikos and Uruk 2006 International Journal for the On assignment Expatriate adjustment
Advancement of Counselling
13 11 Caligiuri and Phillips 2003 The International Journal of Human Selection & Willingness to accept an
Resource Management predeparture expatriation offer
14 12 Ones and Viswesvaran 1999 Human Performance Selection & Expatriate selection
predeparture
15 13 Anderzen & Arnetz 1997 Work & Stress On assignment Expatriate adjustment

16 14 Thomas and Meglino 1997 Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology On assignment Interaction between
HCNs and expatriate
17 15 Thomas and Toyne 1995 Journal of Business Research On assignment Interaction between
HCNs and expatriate
Article: running list of publications; Study: running list of studies conducted, could be one or more per publication or one study could produce
several publications.

42
Table 2 (continued)
Mechanism of Sample Sample
Article Study Design Setting manipulation Sample type Nationality Size
1 1 Randomized Field Vignette HCNs from MNCs in China Chinese 265
experiment
1 2 Quasi-experiment Field Vignette HCNs from MNCs in China Chinese 292

2 3 Randomized Field Vignette Managers familiar with performing German 96

experiment selection process of expatriates
3 4 Randomized Field Intervention Expatriates in Netherlands Western 65
experiment countries
4 4 Randomized Field Intervention Expatriates in Netherlands Western 65
experiment countries
5 4 Randomized Field Intervention Expatriates in Netherlands Western 65
experiment countries
6 5 Randomized Lab Vignette Managers attending MBA program Chinese 107
experiment (class) familiar with accounting
7 6 Randomized Field Vignette Employees from 15 Korean MNCs from Korean 151
experiment headquarters
8 4 Randomized Field Intervention Expatriates in Netherlands Western 65
experiment countries
9 7 Randomized Field Conjoint Employees of a German MNC from German and 84
experiment analysis headquarters and the Spanish subsidiary Spanish
10 8 Randomized Field Vignette Working adults attending a graduate HR American & 196
experiment program other
11 9 Randomized Lab Vignette Managers attending EMBA Korean 79
experiment (class)
12 10 Quasi-experiment Field Intervention Expatriates in Turkey American 16

13 11 Randomized Field Intervention Managers of an American MNC with American 34

experiment interest in an international assignment
14 12 Randomized Lab Conjoint Managers of MNCs experienced staffing American 104
experiment (class) analysis expatriates attending an executive
program
15 13 Quasi-experiment Field Intervention Expatriates on assignment in multiple Swedish 108
countries worldwide
16 14 Randomized Lab Video and Undergraduate students American 72
experiment written vignette
17 15 Randomized Lab Vignette Undergraduate students American 87
experiment

Lab (class): experimental design where the settings are controlled for all the participants similar to laboratory, however, they
were conducted in a classroom. Conjoint analysis and vignette are techniques used by researchers to present a simultaneous
evaluation of multiple characteristics as a whole.

43
Table 2 (continued)
Article Study Theoretical basis Role of theory
1 1 Social identity theory, self categorization theory, Hypothesis development
symbolic interaction theory, self verification theory
1 2 Social identity theory, self categorization theory, Hypothesis development
symbolic interaction theory, self verification theory
2 3 Human capital theory Hypothesis development

3 4 Stress & coping theory, dissonance theory, social Hypothesis development

penetration theory
4 4 Theory of the strength of weak ties Limited

5 4 Personality stability theory, culture learning theory Hypothesis development

6 5 Agency theory Hypothesis development

7 6 Role identity salience theory Hypothesis development

8 4 Contact Theory Limited

9 7 Utility theory, prospect theory, rational choice Hypothesis development

theory
10 8 Social identity theory, similarity-attraction theory, Hypothesis development
theory on cultural toughness, equity theory,
expectancy-value theory
11 9 Not identified Not applicable

12 10 Not identified Not applicable

13 11 Not identified Not applicable

14 12 Not identified Not applicable

15 13 Stress & culture shock theory Limited

16 14 Attribution theory Limited

17 15 Attribution theory, accommodation theory Hypothesis development

44
Table 2 (continued)
Article Study Procedure Independent variables Dependent variables
1 1 Read a scenario where they interact HCN ethnic identity confirmation HCN intention to share knowledge, HCN
with an ethnic Chinese expatriate trustworthiness perception of expatriates
1 2 Read a scenario where they interact HCN ethnic identity confirmation HCN intention to share knowledge, HCN
with an ethnic Chinese expatriate trustworthiness perception of expatriates
2 3 Read hypothetical candidates with Study abroad, GPA, previous Hiring decision and hiring for expatriation
varied credentials applying for entry experience
job. Asked if they would hire locally
or for an expatriation
3 4 Assigned a local host for 9 months Assignment of local host Social support from HCNs
4 4 Assigned a local host for 9 months Assignment of local host Relationship quality, satisfaction, physical
health, adjustment, performance, intention
to quit
5 4 Assigned a local host for 9 months Assignment of local host Intercultural competence: open
mindedness, social initiative, cultural
empathy, emotional stability, flexibility
6 5 Read case materials and assume they Incentive & opportunity Decision making
were the managing director asked to do manipulated concurrently (agency
year end accrual who report to Chinese problem) and management style
or American expat manager
7 6 Read scenario where they were given Level of economic development Willingness to accept relocation package
an expatriation with varied conditions and language of host country
of host country
8 4 Assigned a local host for 9 months Assignment of local host Expat Success: adjustment and
performance
9 7 Read a scenario where they were given Salary, compensation system, Willingness to accept relocation package
an expatriation with varied conditions location bonus, reintegration
seminar, mentor and other 16
benefits
10 8 Read a scenario where they were given Destination safety, cultural Willingness to accept relocation package
an expatriation with varied conditions similarity and financial incentive
11 9 Select the director of Korean operation Race and gender Hiring decision for expatriation
from manipulated candidates of
different gender and race, some being
expatriates
12 10 Received counseling from local or Nationality of counselor Counseling outcomes
American counselor
13 11 Read a realistic job preview about an Realistic job preview Self-efficacy for success on IA. Perceived
expatriation ability to make informed decisions

14 12 Read hypothetical candidates varied in Extraversion, conscientiousness, Completion of intl assignment, overseas
personality traits applying for openness to experiences, adjustment, interpersonal relations w host
expatriation agreeableness, emotional stability nationals, expatriate job performance
15 13 Went on an international assignment Assigned to an expatriation Socio-demographics, work environment
with duration between 1 to 5 years and work related factors, psychosocial, and
individual factors, life style and medical
history, physical examination and
physiological measurements, blood
sampling and biological measurements
16 14 Read/watched an interaction between Cultural adaptation and stimulus Causal attribution (locus and stability)
expat Japanese manager and American presentation (script or video)
subordinate
17 15 Read an interaction between expat Culturally adaptive behavior Behavioral intentions (association, trust,
Japanese manager and American perceived mgr effectiveness)
subordinates

45
Table 3. Useful strategies to overcome the four unique challenges

Challenging data access and recruitment of
participants
Consider all forms of expatriates: self-initiated,
corporate expatriate, inpatriates, repatriates. Consider
that expatriates are employed by different type or
organizations and institutions: MNCs, governments,
NGOs, universities, military agencies, religious
associations
If you do not have access to expatriates, you can use
sample of repatriates, or candidates to expatriations.
For some research questions, students and people that
Focus on one location with a large pool of
interact with expatriates could be appropriate samples.
potential participants.
To recruit your sample: leverage personal and
professional networks such as friends, colleagues
from university and work.
Leverage connection to organizations that employ or
have access to expatriates (migration offices, alumni of
business schools).
Global dispersion of the sample
Design your study in a way that does not require
the presence of the researcher: vignettes (video or
written), conjoint analysis, experimental designs
using z-tree software, scenarios using virtual
reality.
Leverage technology to reach your participants:
email, online surveys, virtual chat rooms, skype,
phone.
Use "student samples" with work experience and
the potential to become expatriates, such as
participants of executive programs, EMBAs or
MBAs and replicate lab conditions in a classroom.
Restricted manipulability of variables Cultural boundedness
Use hypothetical scenarios when you cannot Aim for equivalence of operationalization of study
manipulate the condition directly (e.g., imagine variables across languages and cultures.
you have a Japanese boss).
Be cognizant of cultural impact on measurement such
Consider priming when the condition may be as response scales predisposition (e.g., tendency to
present in the participant (e.g., "trigger the only use middle categories by Asian nationals) and
memory" of international experience with a written familiarity with different data collection methods.
task).
Isolate cultural variance (natural predisposition of
Use quasi-experimental designs matching people from same culture) from manipulation effect
participants across groups on observable (method variance) and from operationalization
characteristics related to your study variables and variance (e.g., using one measurement scale vs
controlling for confounding variables. another; or video vs written vignette) .
Focus on one culture at a time. Replicate the
experimental study with participants from different
cultures to achieve generalization.
Re-test for construct validity when utilizing scales
developed in a different culture.

Advertise on online networks (social and

Develop situational judgement tests for each target
professional), as well as at physical events (fairs, culture.
international schools, etc.).

Use crowdsourcing marketplaces (e.g. Mturk,

Wenjuan).

Use snowball technique.

Incentivize participation through offering something in

return.

46
Table 4. Exemplary articles utilizing experimental design to study an expatriation topic
Authors Year Journal Title Summary of study(ies) Findings
Fan and 2017 Journal of World Host country employees’ Two studies, one experimental, one quasi-experimental, both using vignettes Knowledge sharing between HCNs
Harzing Business ethnic identity presenting hypothetical scenarios. For each study, more than 250 HCNs of and the expatriate only happened
confirmation: Evidence Chinese MNCs were recruited via personal networks and snowballing (S1) after building trust, and the latter
from interactions with and through an online survey platform (S2), respectively. Participants read a occurred when HCNs and the
ethnically similar scenario where they interacted with an ethnic Chinese (i.e., ethnically similar) expatriate had a shared view on the
expatriates expatriate, who either did or did not share their view on the importance of importance of the HCNs ethnic
ethnic identity (manipulation of ethnic identity confirmation), and then rated identity in their interactions.
the trustworthiness of as well as their intention to share knowledge with the
expatriate.
Van Bakel, 2014 International Impact of a local host on Longitudinal experimental field study. 65 expatriates in the Netherlands were Having a local host had an effect on
Gerritsen and Journal of the intercultural recruited via expatriate fairs, networking events, local advertisement, in- two of the intercultural competence
Van Human Resource competence of company newsletters, and online platforms. Participants were put in touch variables measured, as it buffered
Oudenhoven Management expatriates with a local host (or, in the case of the control group, after the experiment was the decrease in social initiative and
completed) and filled out questionnaires regarding their intercultural open-mindedness that happened
competence at the beginning and end of the 9-month long experiment. Hosts over time, although in the case of
were found through personal networks and snowballing. Contact between open-mindedness this buffering
host and expatriate was monitored by keeping in touch with the host and, effect only appeared when
minimally with the expatriate. expatriates had a partner.

Warneke and 2011 Cross Cultural Expatriate compensation Experimental vignette study with 84 employees of a German MNC working German and Spanish agreed in the
Schneider Management packages: What do in the headquarter, compared to employees of the Spanish subsidiary (using a preferred level on 17 out of 21
employees prefer? matched sample approach). Participants read a scenario where they were benefits considered in the expatriate
offered a hypothetical 2-year assignment to a subsidiary in the USA. offer, suggesting there is an
Following the HILCA procedure that comprises several intricate steps, opportunity for standardization of
participants were then asked to rate the importance of 21 different aspects of packages across these two
compensation packages in influencing their decision as well as their countries. The 4 attributes that were
preference for and acceptance of specific packages. Results were interpreted rated differently by German and
comparing employees in Germany vs. Spain. Spanish employees hint at the
existence of societal effects.

47
 Figure 1. Timeline of publication for the 17 articles identified in the systematic literature
review on experimental studies on expatriation

0
1995-1999 2000-2004 2005-2009 2010-2014 2015-2019

48

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