Document Type

Article

Abstract

This study examines the transmission of geopolitical shocks to firm behavior. While previous research has primarily focused on the direct relation between shocks and firm behavior, we provide a more nuanced understanding by conceptualizing geopolitical shocks as disruptions that evolve through explicit and implicit channels to influence firm behavior. Based on a systematic review of 159 articles, we identify the key mechanisms that transmit the impacts of a geopolitical shock. Our findings reveal that geopolitical shocks manifest in institutions and their lower-level mechanisms, and such transmission is neither uniform nor random. Furthermore, we categorize firm behavior into distinct response modalities. The resulting integrative model formalizes geopolitical shocks as dynamic processes in which firms are both subjects and agents within the institutional environments in which they compete. We offer several promising avenues for future research in international business theory and policy.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1057/s42214-025-00232-8

Rights

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

APA Citation

Andrews, D. S., Puhr, H., & Knill, A. (2026). Transmission of geopolitical shocks to firm behavior: a synthesis and integrative model. Journal of International Business Policy, 9.https://doi.org/10.1057/s42214-025-00232-8

Download

Share

COinS