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A Bibliometric Study of John Dunning’s Contribution to International Business Research

ABSTRACT

This article offers a review of John Dunning’s contribution to international business (IB) research, so as to assess the impact of Dunning and of the Eclectic paradigm on this discipline. The contribution of Dunning and of the Eclectic paradigm - usually referred to as OLI - are a core reference to current international business research, namely for studying location decisions, foreign investment, entry modes and internationalization, and for the multinational enterprise theory. First, we review the conceptual foundations of Dunning’s academic contribution. Second, methodologically, we carry out a bibliometric study of articles published in 14 respected academic business magazines over a period of 31 years, between 1980 and 2010. A sample of 697 published articles that refer to Dunning’s work supports the analysis of citations and co-citations matrixes and of relevant themes, allowing us to verify the influence of Dunning’s work on the international business and Management disciplines. This study allowed us to identify the network of connections between Dunning’s Eclectic paradigm and a variety of international business theories, concepts and authors, as well as with the main subjects studied in the discipline. We observed the connections to the transaction costs theory, resource-based view, industrial organization and evolutionary theory. This study also contributes to scholars’ better understanding of the development of the discipline and of the structure of knowledge within connections between theories and authors. Through their contributions, scholars such as John Dunning leave their imprint on the way in which disciplines and knowledge evolve. Dunning’s work, in the Eclectic paradigm, systematized three conditions that guide the internationalization of companies - and is now a reference for entrepreneurial activities, scholars and research.

Keywords:
John Dunning; OLI; Eclectic paradigm; Bibliometric study; International business

RESUMO

Este artigo proporciona uma revisão da contribuição de John Dunning na pesquisa em negócios internacionais, para entender o impacto de sua obra e do paradigma Eclético na disciplina. A contribuição de Dunning e do paradigma Eclético - usualmente referido como OLI - é uma referência central na pesquisa atual em negócios internacionais e, mais frequentemente, para o estudo de decisões de localização, investimento, modos de entrada e internacionalização e para a teoria da empresa multinacional. Primeiro, fazemos uma revisão dos fundamentos da contribuição acadêmica de Dunning. Segundo, metodologicamente, realizamos um estudo bibliométrico dos artigos publicados em 14 periódicos acadêmicos de alta reputação na área da Administração, em um período de 31 anos, entre 1980 e 2010. Uma amostra de 697 artigos que citam o trabalho de Dunning apoia a análise de matrizes de citações e cocitações e dos temas abordados, permitindo verificar a influência dos trabalhos de Dunning na disciplina de negócios internacionais e em Administração, em sentido mais amplo. Este estudo permitiu identificar a rede de ligações do paradigma Eclético de Dunning com uma variedade de teorias, conceitos e autores em negócios internacionais, além de com os principais temas estudados na disciplina. Observamos as ligações com a teoria dos custos de transação, visão baseada nos recursos, organização industrial e teoria evolucionária. Contribui, também, para os acadêmicos compreenderem melhor o desenvolvimento da disciplina e a estrutura do conhecimento nas inter-relações entre teorias e autores. Alguns autores, como John Dunning, marcam a forma como as disciplinas e o conhecimento evoluem com suas contribuições. O trabalho de Dunning, no paradigma Eclético, sistematizou três condições que presidem a internacionalização das empresas e é hoje uma referência para a prática empresarial, os acadêmicos e a pesquisa.

Palavras-chave:
John Dunning; OLI; Paradigma eclético; Estudo bibliométrico; Negócios internacionais

RESUMEN

Este artículo ofrece una revisión de la contribución de John Dunning a la investigación de los negocios internacionales, para comprender el impacto del trabajo de Dunning y del paradigma Ecléctico en la disciplina. La contribución de Dunning y del paradigma Ecléctico - normalmente denominado OLI - es una referencia central en la investigación actual de los negocios internacionales, en particular el estudio de las decisiones de localización, inversión, entrega e internacionalización, así como para la teoría de la empresa multinacional. En primer lugar, se revisaron los fundamentos de la contribución académica de Dunning. En segundo lugar, metodológicamente, se realizó un estudio bibliométrico de los artículos publicados en 14 revistas académicas de prestigio, en el área de Administración, en un período de 31 años, entre 1980 y 2010. Una muestra de 697 artículos que mencionan a Dunning apoya el análisis de las matrices de citas y co-citas y los campos estudiados que permiten comprobar la influencia del trabajo de Dunning en la disciplina de los negocios internacionales y en la Administración en el sentido más amplio. Este estudio ha permitido identificar una red de conexiones del paradigma ecléctico de Dunning con una variedad de teorías, conceptos y autores de negocios internacionales, y con los principales temas estudiados en la disciplina. Observamos las conexiones con la teoría de los costes de transacción, visión basada en recursos, organización industrial y teoría evolucionaria. Ha contribuido igualmente a que los académicos comprendieran mejor el desarrollo de la disciplina y la estructura del conocimiento de las interrelaciones entre teorías y autores. Algunos autores, como John Dunning, marcan con su contribución la forma en que las disciplinas y el conocimiento evolucionan. El trabajo de Dunning, en el paradigma Ecléctico, ha sistematizado tres condiciones que encabezan la internacionalización de las empresas y es hoy una referencia para la práctica empresarial, los académicos y la investigación.

Palabras clave:
John Dunning; OLI; Paradigma ecléctico; Estudio bibliométrico; Negocios internacionales

1 INTRODUCTION

The current business scenario does not allow executives to ignore the many aspects of foreign markets, from commercialization to production. From car industries to cinema, from fast food to consumer electronics, globalization has widened the scope of company activities and executive minds. To keep up with these changes, research concerning international business has taken new paths, absorbed new concepts and approaches and begun to focus on increasingly relevant topics, such as the internationalization of small companies - the born global -, international entrepreneurship, the relationship between corporate headquarters and subsidiaries scattered around the world, and entry into emerging markets, amongst others. One of the most important changes - which, by the way, has followed the evolution of management as a discipline - is focus on companies’ internal aspects - its strategic resources, capabilities and knowledge - in relative disadvantage of approaches based on simply external or transactional factors. However, even when changes in conceptual approaches do occur, certain earlier theories remain because of their usefulness, accuracy or impact on the way of thinking and researching.

This paper analyzes John Dunning’s influence on academic research concerning international business and strategy. Dunning’s proposed connection between the nature of multinational companies’ international production and the factors that affect their location influences, directly or indirectly, most of the research carried out in international business/management. Dunning’s research gained recognition by proposing a taxonomy of three key aspects to companies’ internationalization and, specially, to their decision to produce abroad. This taxonomy, known as the Eclectic paradigm, or simply as OLI, includes three vectors: ownership, location and internalization. Dunning’s proposed taxonomy of factors that sustain the decision to internationalize - based on company-specific advantages, on the choice of production location and between internalization or externalization of transactions - is the theoretical foundation of several surveys that, over the last three decades, have focused on multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) operations. This is one of the most recognized theoretical models in international business (STOIAN; FILIPPAIOS, 2008STOIAN, C. R.; FILIPPAIOS, F. Dunning’s eclectic paradigm: a holistic, yet context specific framework for analysing the determinants of outward FDI: evidence from international Greek investments. International Business Review, London, v. 17, n. 3, p. 349-367, June 2008.), perhaps because it is an approach that combines the various factors that explain multinational enterprises’ activities (HUGGINS; DEMIRBAG; RATCHEVA, 2007HUGGINS, R.; DEMIRBAG, M.; RATCHEVA, V. I. Global knowledge and R&D foreign direct investment flows: recent patterns in Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. International Review of Applied Economics, Abingdon, v. 21, n. 3, p. 437-451, 2007.). The importance of Dunning’s extensive work, carried out over fifty years of academic life, and of his contributions, is evident in current references to his earlier work (DUNNING, 1958DUNNING, J. H. American investment in British manufacturing industry. London: Allen & Unwin, 1958., 1972DUNNING, J. H. The location of international firms in an enlarged EEC: an exploratory paper. Manchester: Manchester Statistical Society, 1972., 1973DUNNING, J. H. The determinants of international production. Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford, v. 25, n. 3, p. 289-336, Nov. 1973., 1977DUNNING, J. H. Trade, location of economic activity and the MNE: a search for an eclectic approach. In: OHLIN, B.; HESSELBORN, P.; WIJKMAN, P. (Ed.) The international allocation of economic activity: proceedings of a Nobel symposium held at Stockholm. London: Macmillan, 1977. p. 395-418.) on the Eclectic paradigm and on the rationale of multinational enterprises and their investments abroad (DUNNING, 1981bDUNNING, J. H. International production and the multinational enterprise. Londres: Allen & Unwin, 1981b., 2000DUNNING, J. H. The eclectic paradigm as an envelope for economic and business theories of MNE activity. International Business Review, London, v. 9, n. 2, p. 163-190, Apr. 2000.). Peng and Zhou (2006PENG, M. W.; ZHOU, J. Q. Most cited articles and authors in global strategy research. Journal of International Management, New York, v. 12, n. 4, p. 490-508, Dec. 2006.) and Ferreira et al. (2011FERREIRA, M. P. et al. John Dunning’s influence in IB/ strategy research: a bibliometric study in the SMJ. Journal of Strategic Management Education, Dublin, v. 7, n. 2, 2011.) considered Dunning one of the most important references in international strategy, and Lahiri and Kumar (2012LAHIRI, S.; KUMAR, V. Ranking international business institutions and faculty members using research publication as the measure: update and extension of prior research. Management International Review, Wiesbaden, v. 52, n. 3, p. 317-340, June 2012.) as the fourth most important author in the world’s main international business journal, the Journal of International Business Studies, amongst authors such as Yadong Luo, Peter Buckley, and John and Klaus Meyer.

The purpose of this article is to examine the theoretical contribution of an author - John Dunning - and of the Eclectic paradigm to the development of the discipline, and the author’s influence, which presumably extends beyond its initial restricted domain in international business, with branches in research concerning business strategy and, more broadly, of Management. Thus, we analyzed articles published in 14 highly respected academic journals over a 31-year period, from 1980 to 2010 - Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, International Business Review, International Marketing Review , Journal of World Business, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Management, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Management International Review, Organization Science, Organization Studies, and Strategic Management Journal. Bibliometric analysis of 675 articles published in these journals mentioning the work of Dunning allowed us to better understand the intellectual structure that connects authors and theories (WHITE; MCCAIN 1998WHITE, H. D.; MCCAIN, K. W. Visualizing a discipline: an author co-citation analysis of information science, 1972-1995. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, New York, v. 49, n. 4, p. 327-355, 1998.; RAMOS-RODRIGUEZ, RUIZ-NAVARRO, 2004RAMOS-RODRIGUEZ, A. R.; RUIZ-NAVARRO, J. Changes in the intellectual structure of strategic management research: a bibliometric study of the Strategic Management Journal, 1980- 2000. Strategic Management Journal, Chichester, v. 25, n. 10, p. 981-1004, Oct. 2004.; FERREIRA et al., 2011FERREIRA, M. P. et al. John Dunning’s influence in IB/ strategy research: a bibliometric study in the SMJ. Journal of Strategic Management Education, Dublin, v. 7, n. 2, 2011.). Our goal is to identify the essence of Dunning’s contribution - the Eclectic paradigm - within international business research and to analyze connections with other authors and topics, through bibliometric analysis of citations and co-citations.

This paper is structured as follows: in the first part, we analyze the genesis of the Eclectic paradigm. Next, we present our methodology, data collection procedure and sample. Results are presented before a broad discussion that points out a few limitations and prospects for future research.

2 THE ECLECTIC PARADIGM

Dunning’s academic career was focused on the development, and subsequent extensions, of the Eclectic paradigm (DUNNING, 1977DUNNING, J. H. Trade, location of economic activity and the MNE: a search for an eclectic approach. In: OHLIN, B.; HESSELBORN, P.; WIJKMAN, P. (Ed.) The international allocation of economic activity: proceedings of a Nobel symposium held at Stockholm. London: Macmillan, 1977. p. 395-418., 1995DUNNING, J. H. Reappraising the eclectic paradigm in the age of alliance capitalism. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v.26, n. 3, p. 461-491, 3rd Qtr.1995., 2004DUNNING, J. H. An evolving paradigm of the economic determinants of international business activity. In: CHENG, J. ; HITT, M. (Ed.). Managing multinationals in a knowledge economy: economics, culture, and human resources. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2004. v. 15, p. 3-27.). The Eclectic paradigm is an approach to international production, that is, to production carried out abroad by means of foreign direct investment (FDI) (see specially DUNNING, 1977DUNNING, J. H. Trade, location of economic activity and the MNE: a search for an eclectic approach. In: OHLIN, B.; HESSELBORN, P.; WIJKMAN, P. (Ed.) The international allocation of economic activity: proceedings of a Nobel symposium held at Stockholm. London: Macmillan, 1977. p. 395-418., 1981bDUNNING, J. H. International production and the multinational enterprise. Londres: Allen & Unwin, 1981b., 1988DUNNING, J. H. The eclectic paradigm of international production: a restatement and some possible extensions. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 19, n. 1, p. 1-31, Spring 1988., 1993aDUNNING, J. H. Multinational enterprises and the global economy. Wokingham: Addison-Wesley, 1993a., 2000DUNNING, J. H. The eclectic paradigm as an envelope for economic and business theories of MNE activity. International Business Review, London, v. 9, n. 2, p. 163-190, Apr. 2000.). The paradigm explains the motives and reasons (why), the location (where) and the way (how) by which multinational companies’ international operations are carried out. It’s called Eclectic because it integrates different theoretical approaches, converting them into a single taxonomy, commonly referred to as the OLI. In essence, the Eclectic paradigm’s conceptual goal is to explain why there are multinational enterprises (MNEs) and why they may be relatively more successful than domestic firms (HYMER, 1976HYMER, S. H. The international operations of national firms: a study of FDI. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1976., DUNNING, 1988DUNNING, J. H. The eclectic paradigm of international production: a restatement and some possible extensions. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 19, n. 1, p. 1-31, Spring 1988.; DUNNING; WYMBS, 2001DUNNING, J.; WYMBS, C. The challenge of electronic markets for international business theory. International Journal of the Economics of Business, London, v. 8, n. 2, p. 273-301, July 2001.).

Dunning’s work can be traced to its origins, in 1958DUNNING, J. H. American investment in British manufacturing industry. London: Allen & Unwin, 1958., with his doctoral thesis - American Investment in British Manufacturing Industry -, when he observed that companies operating in the US presented higher levels of productivity than their counterparts in England. As such, he suggested two types of factors that came to be known as ownership advantages and location advantages. Ownership advantages are those that the company owns, and that it could transfer to other operations, mainly abroad. They demonstrate a competitive advantage the MNE has in holding a specific resource, capability or asset, giving it a greater capacity to create value. Thus, ownership advantages may result from better technology, intangible assets, or to a more efficient production process and to better management capacity, amongst others.

Location advantages are explained as specific to certain locations (regions or countries), which cannot be appropriated at a distance and that benefit only companies located there. That is, to benefit from the location advantages, companies need to have operations on site. Thus, the MNE needs to take site-specific factors into account, such as cost of production factors, accessibility, availability of knowledge, government industrial policies, market size and potential, amongst others. The selected location for operations affects the company’s capacity to exploit its specific assets or resources (ownership advantages). So, inherent to the analysis of location advantages is the fact that these resources are not marketable, so they cannot be transferred to another location (RUGMAN, 1981RUGMAN, A. M. Inside the multinationals: the economics of internal markets. London: Croom Helm, 1981.).

Dunning’s studies concerning ownership and location advantages complement certain neoclassical theories of his time, especially those referring to allocation of factors (LEONTIEF, 1953LEONTIEF, W. Domestic production and foreign trade: the american capital position re-examined. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, v. 97, n. 4, p. 332-349, Sep. 1953.; HYMER, 1976HYMER, S. H. The international operations of national firms: a study of FDI. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1976.; POSNER, 1961POSNER, M. V. International trade and technical change. Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford, v. 13, n. 3, p. 323-341, Oct. 1961.). However, the Eclectic paradigm was very different when compared to prevailing theories, especially by considering that many of the factors were specific to companies and, as such, were mobile - to the extent that companies could move them, even though imperfectly (DUNNING, 1972DUNNING, J. H. The location of international firms in an enlarged EEC: an exploratory paper. Manchester: Manchester Statistical Society, 1972.; HENNART, 1982HENNART, J.-F. A theory of multinational enterprise. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, 1982.; DUNNING; LUNDAN, 2008DUNNING, J. H.; LUNDAN, S. M. Multinational enterprises and the global economy. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Edward Elgar, 2008.). In the 1960s, the prevailing economic vision dictated that assets would only be transferable if structural market imperfections (such as government intervention or monopolies) could be removed (DUNNING; RUGMAN, 1985DUNNING, J.; RUGMAN, A. M. The influence of Hymer’s dissertation on the theory of foreign direct investment. American Economic Review, Nashville, v. 75, n. 2, p. 228-232, May 1985.). One of the elements that were different in Dunning was his emphasis not on structural restrictions of access to local factors (such as tariff barriers or restrictions to ownership), but on the imperfect transference of ownership advantages that prevented companies from transferring their specific competitive resources (or assets) abroad (RUGMAN, 1981RUGMAN, A. M. Inside the multinationals: the economics of internal markets. London: Croom Helm, 1981.).

The third component in the Eclectic paradigm - internalization advantages - emerged in an academic context in which the role of institutions (AKERLOF, 1970AKERLOF, G. A. The market for ‘lemons’: quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Cambridge, v. 84, n. 3, p. 488-500, Aug. 1970.; WILLIAMSON, 1971WILLIAMSON, O. E. The vertical integration of production: market failure considerations. American Economic Review, Nashville, v. 61, n. 2, p. 112-123, May 1971.; ALCHIAN; DEMSETZ, 1972ALCHIAN, A. A.; DEMSETZ, H. Production, information costs, and economic organization. American Economic Review, Nashville, v. 62, n. 5, p. 777-795, Dec. 1972.; SPENCE, 1976SPENCE, A. Informational aspects of market structure: an introduction. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Cambridge, v. 90, n. 4, p. 591-597, Nov. 1976.) and the internalization of activities were gaining relevance, given developments in transaction cost theory (BUCKLEY; CASSON, 1976BUCKLEY, P. J.; CASSON, M. The future of the multinational enterprise. London: Macmillan, 1976.; NORTH, 1984NORTH, D. C. Transaction costs, institutions and economic history. Zeitschrift fur die Gesamte Staatswissenschaft (JITE), Tuebingen, v. 140, n. 1, p. 7-17, Mar. 1984.; TEECE, 1981TEECE, D. J. The multinational enterprise: market failure and market power considerations. Sloan Management Review, Cambridge, v. 22, n. 3, p. 3-17, Spring 1981., 1986TEECE, D. J. Transaction cost economics and the multinational enterprise: an assessment. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Amsterdam, v. 7, n. 1, p. 21-45, Mar. 1986.; NELSON; WINTER, 1982NELSON, R. R.; WINTER, S. G. An evolutionary theory of economic change. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1982.; WILLIAMSON, 1975WILLIAMSON, O. E. Markets and hierarchies: analysis and antitrust implications. New York: Free Press , 1975., 1985WILLIAMSON, O. E. The economic institutions of capitalism: firms, markets, relational contracting. New York: The Free Press, 1985.). Thus, the Eclectic paradigm became complete, made up of three factors: ownership, location and internalization (DUNNING, 1981bDUNNING, J. H. International production and the multinational enterprise. Londres: Allen & Unwin, 1981b.).

Internalization advantages - or the choice between operation internalization or externalization - are companies’ benefits that result from exploiting their ownership advantages internally, rather than through market transactions. That is, why do companies choose to market their specific advantages rather than exploit them internally? The existence of multinational companies themselves can only be explained given internalization advantages. Guisinger (2001GUISINGER, S. From OLI to OLMA: incorporating higher levels of environmental and structural complexity into the eclectic paradigm. International Journal of the Economics of Business, London, v. 8, n. 2, p. 257-272, 2001.) proposes to change the I, in OLI, to M, which means input modes - given that the option to internalize reflects on the selection of modes of entry into foreign markets. In certain cases, the benefits of carrying out operations internally are greater, especially to exploit specific features more effectively - and, in these cases, the MNE carries out FDI. In other cases, efficient market hiring or licensing to external partners are possible. As a general rule, the more important the exploitation of ownership advantages in a given foreign country, the greater the tendency towards internalization of operations through FDI.

The three advantages - ownership, location and internalization, which make up the OLI - have to be present simultaneously for MNEs to prefer carrying out IDE rather than alternative entry modes (DUNNING, 1977DUNNING, J. H. Trade, location of economic activity and the MNE: a search for an eclectic approach. In: OHLIN, B.; HESSELBORN, P.; WIJKMAN, P. (Ed.) The international allocation of economic activity: proceedings of a Nobel symposium held at Stockholm. London: Macmillan, 1977. p. 395-418., 1981aDUNNING, J. H. Explaining the international direct investment position of countries: towards a dynamic or developmental approach, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Kiel, v. 117, p. 30-64, 1981a., 1981bDUNNING, J. H. International production and the multinational enterprise. Londres: Allen & Unwin, 1981b., 1988DUNNING, J. H. The eclectic paradigm of international production: a restatement and some possible extensions. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 19, n. 1, p. 1-31, Spring 1988., 1995DUNNING, J. H. Reappraising the eclectic paradigm in the age of alliance capitalism. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v.26, n. 3, p. 461-491, 3rd Qtr.1995., 2001DUNNING, J.; WYMBS, C. The challenge of electronic markets for international business theory. International Journal of the Economics of Business, London, v. 8, n. 2, p. 273-301, July 2001.). The combination of these three advantages can explain the scope and geographical distribution of MNEs’s activities (see, for example, DUNNING, 1993aDUNNING, J. H. Multinational enterprises and the global economy. Wokingham: Addison-Wesley, 1993a.).

In short, according to Dunning (1988DUNNING, J. H. The eclectic paradigm of international production: a restatement and some possible extensions. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 19, n. 1, p. 1-31, Spring 1988.), the way in which MNEs behave depends on a combination of three factors. Table 1 gives examples of these kinds of advantages.

Table 1:
OLI advantages.

Over the last three decades, the Eclectic paradigm has faced various developments and extensions (Table 2) and, following the publishing, in 1995, of The Eclectic Paradigm in an Age of Alliance Capitalism, Dunning revealed how focus moves from issues concerning only FDI and international production to including the very structure of the multinational company, increasingly considered a network (HEDLUND, 1986HEDLUND, G. The hypermodern MNC: a heterarchy?. Human Resources Management, Oxford, v. 25, n. 1, p. 9-35, Spring 1986.; BARTLETT; GHOSHAL, 1989BARTLETT, C. A.; GHOSHAL, B. S. Managing across borders: the transnational solution. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1989.; LI; FERREIRA; SERRA, 2009LI, D.; FERREIRA, M.P.; SERRA, F. R. Technology transfer within MNEs: inter-subsidiary competition and cooperation. Revista de Administração e Inovação, São Paulo, v. 6, n.1, p. 139-158, 2009.).

Table 2:
Genealogy of the OLI paradigm.

Dunning (1988DUNNING, J. H. The eclectic paradigm of international production: a restatement and some possible extensions. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 19, n. 1, p. 1-31, Spring 1988., 1993bDUNNING, J. H. The globalization of business. London: Routledge, 1993b.) proposes four different types of reasons for carrying out foreign investment, as follows.

  • resource seeking - seeks access to natural resources, raw materials or other productive factors in more advantageous conditions (for example, in greater abundance and at a lower cost).

  • market seeking - seeks entry into a new market so as to, for example, expand the customer base.

  • efficiency seeking - aims at improving the efficiency of the MNE, making it more productive, for example, through better division of labor or specialization of its resources.

  • strategic asset seeking - aims at developing company skills, resources and capabilities, helping to increase its competitive advantage. Motivation behind strategic resource seeking by MNEs has gained relevance (KOGUT; ZANDER, 1992KOGUT, B.; ZANDER, U. Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science, Linthicum, v. 3, n.3, p. 383-397, Aug. 1992., 1993KOGUT, B.; ZANDER, U. Knowledge of the firm and the evolutionary theory of the multinational corporation. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 24, n. 4, p. 625-645, Dec. 1993.), indicating that the location factor loses significance in favor of ownership and internalization advantages as a requirement for MNE operations.

In subsequent extensions of work on the Eclectic paradigm, Dunning (1995DUNNING, J. H. Reappraising the eclectic paradigm in the age of alliance capitalism. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v.26, n. 3, p. 461-491, 3rd Qtr.1995., 1997DUNNING, J. H. Alliance capitalism and global business. London: Routledge, 1997.) refers to forms of cooperation between companies, such as strategic alliances, to observe how the OLI trilogy can be changed, affecting the performance of FDI. Collaboration models between companies help reduce market imperfections, at least in certain situations, thus reducing the need to internalize operations to capture ownership advantages of valuable resources.

One of the key contributions of Dunning’s work (already evident in 1988) was the establishment of a requirement: that companies present a specific competitive advantage as a precondition to the very existence of multinational companies. Indeed, a great deal of the focus of research on international business, nowadays, is based on what these features are, and on how they influence MNEs in multiple dimensions - from choosing locations to entry modes and the configuration of relationships between subsidiaries abroad (BARTLETT; GHOSHAL, 1989BARTLETT, C. A.; GHOSHAL, B. S. Managing across borders: the transnational solution. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1989.; KOGUT; CHANG, 1991KOGUT, B.; CHANG, S. J. Technological capabilities and Japanese foreign direct investment in the United States. Review of Economics and Statistics, Cambridge, v. 73, n. 3, p. 401-413, Aug. 1991.; KOGUT; ZANDER, 1992KOGUT, B.; ZANDER, U. Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science, Linthicum, v. 3, n.3, p. 383-397, Aug. 1992., 1993KOGUT, B.; ZANDER, U. Knowledge of the firm and the evolutionary theory of the multinational corporation. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 24, n. 4, p. 625-645, Dec. 1993.; LI; FERREIRA; SERRA, 2009LI, D.; FERREIRA, M.P.; SERRA, F. R. Technology transfer within MNEs: inter-subsidiary competition and cooperation. Revista de Administração e Inovação, São Paulo, v. 6, n.1, p. 139-158, 2009.). Currently, this line of research is supported by the resource-based view developed by authors such as Barney (1986BARNEY, J. Strategic factor markets: expectations, luck and business strategy. Management Science, Hanover, v. 32, n. 10, p. 1231-1241, Oct. 1986., 1991BARNEY, J. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, Thousand Oaks, v. 17, n. 1, p. 99-120, Mar. 1991), Wernerfelt (1984WERNERFELT, B. A resourced-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, Chichester, v. 5, n. 2, p. 171-180, Apr./June 1984.), Penrose (1959PENROSE, E. The theory of the growth of the firm. New York: Oxford University Press, 1959.), Tallman (1991TALLMAN, S. B. Strategic management models and resource-based strategies among MNEs in a host market. Strategic Management Journal, Chichester, v. 12, n. 1 p. 69-82, 1991. Special Issue.) and Peteraf (1993PETERAF, M. A. The cornerstones of competitive advantage: a resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal, Chichester, v. 14, n. 3, p. 179-191, Mar. 1993.) , amongst others. In fact, current focus given to a specific resource is not irrelevant: knowledge, as the originator of MNEs (KOGUT; ZANDER, 1992KOGUT, B.; ZANDER, U. Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science, Linthicum, v. 3, n.3, p. 383-397, Aug. 1992.).

3 BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY

3.1 Method

The bibliometric method employed is based on the one described by Ramos-Rodriguez and Ruiz-Navarro (2004RAMOS-RODRIGUEZ, A. R.; RUIZ-NAVARRO, J. Changes in the intellectual structure of strategic management research: a bibliometric study of the Strategic Management Journal, 1980- 2000. Strategic Management Journal, Chichester, v. 25, n. 10, p. 981-1004, Oct. 2004.) when analyzing the evolution and changes in the intellectual structure of the research, published in the Strategic Management Journal. In this bibliometric research, we examine articles that were published seeking to identify relationships between authors and topics within research. Specifically, we use citation and co-citations analysis (BROWN, GRIFFITH, 1981WHITE, H. D.; GRIFFITH, B. C. Author co-citation: a literature measure of intellectual structure. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, New York, v. 32, n. 3, p. 163-171, May 1981.; WHITE; MCCAIN, 1998WHITE, H. D.; MCCAIN, K. W. Visualizing a discipline: an author co-citation analysis of information science, 1972-1995. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, New York, v. 49, n. 4, p. 327-355, 1998.). Citation analysis depends on the use of other documents (books, articles, etc.) that authors refer to when writing their academic papers.

The use of these references reveals that certain previous work is important to their own work, or serves as a reference to it. It is therefore reasonable to suggest that the more an article is mentioned, and by the most authors, the greater its influence to the discipline and the development of knowledge (TAHAI; MEYER, 1999TAHAI, A.; MEYER, M. J. A revealed preference study of management journals’ direct influences. Strategic Management Journal, Chichester, v. 20, n. 3, p. 279-296, Mar. 1999.). Analysis of co-citations, in turn, examines possible groups or pairs of articles that are mentioned simultaneously in the same article. Thus, articles that are mentioned together within the same article are likely to share some content, or serve the same purpose. Through this process, we are able to establish groups of authors, topics and theories to understand how they might be related (see, in this respect, WHITE, GRIFFITH, 1981WHITE, H. D.; GRIFFITH, B. C. Author co-citation: a literature measure of intellectual structure. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, New York, v. 32, n. 3, p. 163-171, May 1981.; MCCAIN 1990MCCAIN, K. W. Mapping authors in intellectual space: a technical overview. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, New York, 41, n. 6, p. 433-443, Sep. 1990.; WHITE; MCCAIN, 1998WHITE, H. D.; MCCAIN, K. W. Visualizing a discipline: an author co-citation analysis of information science, 1972-1995. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, New York, v. 49, n. 4, p. 327-355, 1998.).

3.2 Sample

The bibliometric study carried out focused on 14 respected Management journals. Journals and their ratings (Table 3) were selected from Ann-Will Harzing’s work (2011HARZING, A-W. Journal quality list 2011. Acessada em http://www.harzing.com
http://www.harzing.com...
) Journal Quality List (available on <www.harzing.com/jql.htm>). Several studies used an identical or narrower selection of journals, but also included the ones used here (WERNER, 2002WERNER, S. Recent developments in international management research: a review of 20 top management journals. Journal of Management, Thousand Oaks, v. 28, n. 3, p. 277-305, June 2002.; LU, 2003LU, J. W. The evolving contributions in international strategic management research. Journal of International Management, New York, v. 9, n. 2, p. 193-213, 2003.; PENG; ZHOU, 2006PENG, M. W.; ZHOU, J. Q. Most cited articles and authors in global strategy research. Journal of International Management, New York, v. 12, n. 4, p. 490-508, Dec. 2006.; FERREIRA et al., 2009FERREIRA, M. P. et al. Is the international business environment the actual context for international business research?. Revista de Administração Empresas, São Paulo, v. 49, n. 3, p. 282-294, jul./set. 2009.; PISANI, 2009PISANI, N. International management research: investigating its recent diffusion in top management journals. Journal of Management, Thousand Oaks, v. 35, n. 2, p. 199-218, Mar. 2009.; TREVINO et al., 2010TREVINO, L. J. et al. A perspective on the state of the field: international business publications in the elite journals as a measure of institutional and faculty productivity. International Business Review, London, v. 19, n. 4, p. 378-387, Aug. 2010.; FERREIRA et al., 2011FERREIRA, M. P. et al. John Dunning’s influence in IB/ strategy research: a bibliometric study in the SMJ. Journal of Strategic Management Education, Dublin, v. 7, n. 2, 2011.; LAHIRI; KUMAR, 2012LAHIRI, S.; KUMAR, V. Ranking international business institutions and faculty members using research publication as the measure: update and extension of prior research. Management International Review, Wiesbaden, v. 52, n. 3, p. 317-340, June 2012.). These journals are among the highest ranked for publishing scientific articles on international business: Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS), Management International Review (MIR), International Business Review (IBR), Journal of World Business (JWB) and Journal of International Management (JIM). Other journals that publish research on international business, although more general in their Management vocation, were also included: Academy of Management Journal (AMJ), Academy of Management Review (AMR), Journal of Management (JM), Asia Pacific Journal of Management (APJM), Journal of Management Studies (JMS), Organization Science (OS), Organization Studies (Ost) and Strategic Management Journal (SMJ).

These 14 journals are available for download on online databases which universities usually subscribe, although facing eventual time restrictions. All journals are also available on the ISI Web of Knowledge, from where data used in this research was taken. Generically, the 1980-2010 period was considered - 31 years - for analysis. Please note that some journals do not present data for the entire period, as shown by Table 3. For example, JWB is only available from 1997 to 2011, and APJM, from 1998 to 2011, but other journals have a long available history, such as JIBS, whose entries begin in 1976, and AMJ, beginning in 1958, making analysis of the whole considered period possible.

Table 3:
Ranking of journals on which research was based.

The sample was created according to a procedure that identifies and selects all articles that mention at least one of John Dunning’s works. This procedure resulted in 697 articles with citations of at least one of Dunning’s works. Any differences in the titles of articles, volumes or numbers were corrected and, in the case of books, made uniform with the first edition. We selected these articles and all references in each of the 697 articles for subsequent analysis. Table 4 presents, for each of the 14 journals, the published articles and the total number of articles mentioning Dunning. The growing trend of Dunning citations is evident, even considering the greater number of articles published, revealing increasing acceptance of Dunning’s theoretical contribution to the international business discipline. Not surprisingly, the work of Dunning is most mentioned in journals of the discipline - JIBS, MIR, IBR, JWB and JIM - and strategy (SMJ, in which 87 published articles mention Dunning).

Table 4:
Articles published, by journal: 1980-2010.

Data collected was organized using the Bibexcel software - available on http://www.umu.se/inforsk/Bibexcel - for generating citation and co-citation matrixes, according to the method proposed by Ramos-Rodriguez and Ruiz-Navarro (2004).

4 RESULTS

Figure 1 shows an increasing trend in the use of Dunning’s work in International Business research, from initial work in the early 1980s on. Although other conceptual perspectives have emerged in research carried out in the discipline, perhaps specially the Resource-Based View in the 1990s, or approaches based on institutional theory, Dunning’s Eclectic paradigm has maintained and enhanced its relevance. In 2009, around 10% of the articles published in the 14 chosen journals mentioned at least one of Dunning’s works.

Figure 1:
Evolution of Dunning citations: 1980-2010 (%)

Table 5 presents the 12 most mentioned works in the sample, with special mention of the 1993 book Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy as the most mentioned.

Table 5:
Most mentioned Dunning articles.

Figure 2 presents a map of co-citations for the 20 most mentioned authors, alongside Dunning’s works. The figure reveals three different effects: first, the connections between different works (an article or book by a given author); second, the strength of the existing link; and third, the position of relative centrality or periphery. Dunning’s 1993 article appears in the center of the figure, as the most mentioned - the closer the articles are to the center, the greater the number of co-citations. For example, Dunning (1993aDUNNING, J. H. Multinational enterprises and the global economy. Wokingham: Addison-Wesley, 1993a.), Johanson and Vahle (1977JOHANSON, J.; VAHLNE, J. The internationalisation process of the firm: A model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitment. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 8, n. 1, p. 23-32, Spring/Summer 1977.) and Buckley and Casson (1976BUCKLEY, P. J.; CASSON, M. The future of the multinational enterprise. London: Macmillan, 1976.) are more central and closer, indicating that they present the most co-citations and that, given their centrality, are more relevant to all other works. From Dunning (1993aDUNNING, J. H. Multinational enterprises and the global economy. Wokingham: Addison-Wesley, 1993a.) on, important connections to the work of Kogut and Zander (1993KOGUT, B.; ZANDER, U. Knowledge of the firm and the evolutionary theory of the multinational corporation. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 24, n. 4, p. 625-645, Dec. 1993.) and Kogut and Singh (1988KOGUT, B.; SINGH, H. The effect of national culture on the choice of entry mode. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 19, n.3, p. 411-432, Autumn 1988.) are established, in 53 connections, and also to Caves (1982CAVES, R. E. Multinational enterprise and economic analysis. Cambridge: The Cambridge University Press, 1982.), in 63 connections. The connections between Dunning’s 1977 and 1980 articles and Buckley and Casson’s book (1976BUCKLEY, P. J.; CASSON, M. The future of the multinational enterprise. London: Macmillan, 1976.) on the future of multinational enterprises must also be mentioned, because multinational enterprises exist when companies invest and expand in foreign markets.

Analysis of Figure 2 also reveals the relative centrality of each work (article or book) to other works. In the vicinity of Figure 2 are the works that, although they present a great number of co-citations with Dunning, are still less relevant to other works in the network. This is the case, for example, of Porter (1990PORTER, M. E. The competitive advantage of nations. New York: Free Press, 1990.), which, although important, is less relevant to the remaining 18 works in the network.

Figure 2:
Map of 20 most mentioned articles’ co-citations.

The relative thickness of lines reflects the intensity of the link between each work, and is a measure of the frequency of citations. The software moves to the edge of the figure works which, although they present many co-citations with Dunning, are less frequently mentioned in other works. Therefore, the position in the network and the strength of the link reveal the relative use of a given work in existing research.

It is interesting to understand which of the researched topics use Dunning’s work. Bibliometric analysis carried out does not allow for analysis of the individual content of each of the 697 articles mentioning Dunning. This analysis is carried out in a direct and possibly more significant way by analysis of keywords provided by the authors. Please note that authors suggest a set of keywords in their articles to express their content, or for cataloging purposes, either by journals or in libraries, or to identify potential topics to interested readers. Thus, it is reasonable to state that keywords given by authors allow for reasonable identification of topics covered by their articles.

Figure 3 presents the 697 selected articles’s main keywords (altogether, these articles used 1082 different keywords). Please note that the main topics of the articles mentioning Dunning refer to foreign direct investment (FDI) and multinational enterprises (MNE), to all extents the core of Dunning’s contribution. Other issues - such as knowledge, globalization, emerging economies and markets, location, disadvantages of being foreign, entry modes and internationalization - are also significant. Globally considered, these are the main topics of research in international business. Analysis carried out is prima facie evidence that Dunning’s work contributes to the research of the discipline’s main topics.

Figure 3:
Main topics in articles that mention Dunning.

5 DISCUSSION

In this article, we examine the influence of the work of teacher and researcher John Dunning on Management research and, specifically, on the International Business discipline over the last three decades. Dunning’s legacy is recognized for its conceptual contribution to the evolution of the discipline, and its taxonomy OLI is widely used in research. Theoretical analysis of Dunning’s work, in the first part of this article, was followed by a bibliometric study in 14 of the main Management journals that publish research on international business. Following bibliometric study procedures, this work involved the analysis of nearly 22,000 published articles, which, altogether, have been mentioned over 604,000 times. As a sample for empirical analysis, we created a database that included 697 articles published from 1980 to 2010 in the 14 listed journals, mentioning at least one of Dunning’s works. With this study, we sought to realize the impact of an author and of his proposals - especially of the Eclectic paradigm - as well as the intellectual structure of connections with other authors and theories or topics. Analysis of citations and co-citations and a brief look at topics allowed us to identify how Dunning’s work is employed.

Bibliometric study allows us to observe a set of results. First, we noticed how Dunning’s work and his eclectic paradigm play an increasingly important role in International Business research and discipline (Figure 1). Analysis in Figure 2 allowed us to identify connections between Dunning’s work and a group of authors and theories. The figure reveals several topics and currents of thought in international business. For example, the connection with Johanson and Vahlne (1977JOHANSON, J.; VAHLNE, J. The internationalisation process of the firm: A model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitment. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 8, n. 1, p. 23-32, Spring/Summer 1977.) reveal that there is great proximity between the OLI taxonomy and work on internationalization as a gradual and incremental process, as proposed by the Swedish school of Uppsala. Even in gradual internationalization, companies makes use of their competitive advantages and sequentially choose locations for their productive investments.

The co-citation of Dunning with Michael Porter, specially in 1990 and 1986 articles, reveals proximity with topics such as location advantages and the need to explore and learn about foreign markets where MNEs internationalize, but also facing competition in global industries. There is also proximity to work on transaction costs (WILLIAMSON, 1975WILLIAMSON, O. E. Markets and hierarchies: analysis and antitrust implications. New York: Free Press , 1975., 1985WILLIAMSON, O. E. The economic institutions of capitalism: firms, markets, relational contracting. New York: The Free Press, 1985.; RUGMAN, 1981RUGMAN, A. M. Inside the multinationals: the economics of internal markets. London: Croom Helm, 1981.; HENNART, 1982HENNART, J.-F. A theory of multinational enterprise. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, 1982.) - the decision to internalize operations abroad requires assessment of internalization advantages that can be withstood in comparison to the transaction costs of different alternatives, or entry modes. Buckley and Casson (1976BUCKLEY, P. J.; CASSON, M. The future of the multinational enterprise. London: Macmillan, 1976.), for example, focus on the existence of multinational enterprises as a way of overcoming the imperfections of the intermediate goods market, primarily of knowledge. Co-citation with the work of Vernon (1966VERNON, R. International investments and international trade in the product cycle. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Cambridge, v. 80, n. 2, p. 190-207, May 1966.), about products’ international life cycle, is explained by an attempt to understand the flows of trade and investment and, possibly, complementary in deciding which are the best locations for operating with direct investment.

Please note the connection between Dunning and a theoretical approach that is increasingly important in international business - the resource-based view. One of the most notorious articles is Barney’s (1991BARNEY, J. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, Thousand Oaks, v. 17, n. 1, p. 99-120, Mar. 1991), which identifies and explains the four characteristics that strategic resources should have in order to give the enterprise a competitive advantage. In the same line of thought is the work of Kogut and Zander (1993KOGUT, B.; ZANDER, U. Knowledge of the firm and the evolutionary theory of the multinational corporation. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 24, n. 4, p. 625-645, Dec. 1993.) about knowledge and an evolutionary perspective of multinational enterprises. The connection between these works may be in ownership advantages, as proposed by Dunning, and in enterprises’ need to have competitive advantages as essential conditions to internationalization.

Culture is one of the most commonly use dimensions in international business research (Ferreira et al., 2009FERREIRA, M. P. et al. Is the international business environment the actual context for international business research?. Revista de Administração Empresas, São Paulo, v. 49, n. 3, p. 282-294, jul./set. 2009.). We must mention the co-citation with the work of Hofstede (1980HOFSTEDE, G. Culture’s consequences: international differences in work related values. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1980.), who defines four cultural dimensions, and with the article of Kogut and Singh (1988KOGUT, B.; SINGH, H. The effect of national culture on the choice of entry mode. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 19, n.3, p. 411-432, Autumn 1988.) which presents the cultural distance concept and the effect of national culture on choosing an entry mode. Cultural differences lead to uncertainty in international operations and in entry into foreign markets. Uncertainty affects not only the choice of a location, but also leads enterprises to choosing an entry mode (hence, to the decision to internalize) that minimizes risks. As a way of reducing risks, one possible solution is to enter first markets that are closer and less different, learning from these operations before venturing to markets that are more distant and different (JOHANSON; VAHLNE, 1977JOHANSON, J.; VAHLNE, J. The internationalisation process of the firm: A model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitment. Journal of International Business Studies, Basingstoke, v. 8, n. 1, p. 23-32, Spring/Summer 1977.).

This work has limitations that must be mentioned, specially regarding the empirical component. These are, for example, the limitations of the bibliometric method itself and of the use of only 14 journals when carrying out analysis. Journals were chosen because they are available for consultation, but there are other magazines that also include research in international business. On the other hand, certain journals do not possess their whole publishing history available in the ISI Web of Knowledge. Still, journals chosen are amongst the most prestigious in Management and that publish international business academic articles. Limitation is, therefore, in generalizing results, given that only a small part of all published research in Management was used.

Another limitation, also inherent to the bibliometric method, is the difficulty to observe the context in which citations are made. In some cases, authors mention previous work to support a given argument; in others, they use citations to reveal contrast or even to criticize. The bibliometric method used does not infer the context in which a citation is made, but future research can overcome this limitation with more extensive content analysis (RAMOS-RODRIGUEZ, RUIZ-NAVARRO, 2004RAMOS-RODRIGUEZ, A. R.; RUIZ-NAVARRO, J. Changes in the intellectual structure of strategic management research: a bibliometric study of the Strategic Management Journal, 1980- 2000. Strategic Management Journal, Chichester, v. 25, n. 10, p. 981-1004, Oct. 2004.). In this study, content, or topic, is observed only through the frequency of keywords (Figure 3). Indeed, it is reasonable to suggest that the analysis of keywords is a more demanding test than alternative techniques, but does not provide further detail. Future research, however, can deepen understanding of topics dealt with by the use of content analysis methodologies, eventually using specific software or creating taxonomies of research topics and areas and rating contributions and applications in each of the articles.

Finally, we must note that older books and articles usually present the greatest number of citations. This is an observation rather than a limitation of this study. The truth is that older works are better known, and that some reach a status of “classics”, making their citation in new research “mandatory”.

Future research may evolve in various directions. For example, using a broader base of scientific journals, and perhaps separating academic journals from other journals geared towards managers (such as the Harvard Business Review). It would also be interesting to analyze the interrelationships between authors - and their theories or conceptual proposals - through statistical methods that allow for creating more elaborate networks and clusters of articles and theories. These analyses can be relevant to better understand which authors and theories are more central to research and those which are more peripheral. Similarly, future research may include a longitudinal component, observing that authors and theories disappear or emerge as the most mentioned in certain periods ,and how these variations over time reflect external concerns and events.

6 FINAL OBSERVATIONS

Dunning’s work is based on OLI taxonomy, which presents three conditions for companies to carry out productive investment abroad. These conditions embody three kinds of advantages - ownership, location and internalization - which must occur simultaneously for the company to internationalize through international production abroad, instead of using alternatives like exporting or licensing. That is, not all internationalization movements are relevant, only those meaning foreign investment, but they imply the need for companies to consider, since the beginning, what are the specific advantages they possess (or ownership advantages) that can allow them to compete successfully in foreign markets. Next, it must assess location advantages that countries offer and where the implementation of direct investment is really the best option compared to alternatives such as licensing or export.

In conclusion, it is important for scholars to understand the impact of selected authors, authors whose contributions mark, or marked, the evolution of the discipline, as well as understand how this impact occurs. Part of this understanding is in the analysis of the structure of knowledge and of interrelationships between theories, concepts, authors and schools of thought. The life and work of Dunning, through his work, are striking in the study of international business, and his contributions impact business decisions. Dunning’s contribution, apparent in the Eclectic paradigm, systematized three conditions that govern the internationalization of companies and extends to forms or models of internationalization, to the ways in which companies organize themselves internally to transact in markets and to the very choice of destinations. Nowadays, for managers and scholars, the work of Dunning is a crucial reference for research and practice.

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  • Evaluation Process: Double Blind Review

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    Jan-Mar 2013

History

  • Received
    13 Dec 2011
  • Accepted
    05 Mar 2013
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