SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Drawing on signalling theory and using the cases of Alibaba and Coupang, we investigate whether and how venture capital-backed companies from emerging markets use CSR to overcome the liability of foreignness when going public in the US. Our findings suggest that such firms strategically increase their CSR activities prior to their IPO in order to signal legitimacy to investors. They also suggest that firms with both strong and weak CSR signalling strategies (as measured by signal cost, frequency and consistency) are equally likely to have successful IPOs when they are backed by reputable venture capital firms.