TY - JOUR AU1 - Dikova, Desislava AU2 - Panibratov, Andrei AU3 - Veselova, Anna AU4 - Ermolaeva, Lyubov AB - PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance knowledge about factors that influence the location of Russian foreign direct investments. In particular, it focusses on the role of institutional distance (represented by corruption perception distance, political distance and cultural distance) as a moderator of the relationships between traditional investment motives and the number of M&A deals made by Russian companies in a specific country.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is conducted on panel data of Russian cross-border M&As launched in 46 countries during the period 2007-2013. The final data set includes 322 observations. Due to the nature of dependent variable and the results of pre-tests, negative binomial regression is used in the main analysis.FindingsThe key finding of the study reveals the importance of institutional distance, in particular, the moderating effect of different dimensions of institutional distance on the relationships between internationalization motives and the number of Russian M&As. Corruption, political and cultural differences show different effects in terms of both direction and strength, but all three were found to be significant.Research limitations/implicationsThe major concern stems from the type of secondary data used in the paper. This indicates the necessity to improve data collection methods which could allow for better transparency of Russian foreign investments, would facilitate more sophisticated research and probably more accurate business forecasts.Originality/valueBy conducting a systematic examination of Russian cross-border M&As the authors contribute to the literature on emerging markets firms by addressing the important yet under-researched domain of Russian foreign direct investments. Building on the macroeconomic and institutional logic proposed in this study, future research on Russian cross-border activities could add to the understanding by providing more generalizable and critical evidence. The study provides a point of departure from prior studies on Russian outward FDI which the authors hope to inspire future research to further analyze the drivers of Russian M&As and foreign investments in general. TI - The joint effect of investment motives and institutional context on Russian international acquisitions JF - International Journal of Emerging Markets DO - 10.1108/IJoEM-04-2016-0105 DA - 2016-09-19 UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/emerald-publishing/the-joint-effect-of-investment-motives-and-institutional-context-on-Pw5wZEgnTh SP - 674 EP - 692 VL - 11 IS - 4 DP - DeepDyve ER -