ABSTRACT
Uses and Problems The first attempt to use the ideas presented in Pankaj Ghemawat’s “Distance Still Matters” empirically was in a 2005 article on technology’s impact on multinational companies’ motivations for foreign investment by Lilach Nachum and Srilata Zaheer.1 They called “for more research on the various dimensions of distance […] and its implications for international business strategy”.2 In 2007 Eric Tsang* and Paul Yip* investigated the economic dimension of Ghemawat’s CAGE Distance Framework, finding it significantly influenced the hazard rates of foreign direct investments.3 Dovev Lavie and Stewart R. Miller incorporated the framework in their 2008 study of alliance portfolio internationalization.4 More recently leading researchers such as Robert Salomon,* Zheying Wu,* Joanna Tochman Campbell,* Lorraine Eden,* and Miller again have extended lines of inquiry based on Ghemawat’s work.5,6
Since 2001, Ghemawat has reinforced his position in a series of influential articles and books, such as Redefining Global Strategy and Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter. In the public arena, Ghemawat has also engaged in a sustained intellectual debate with Thomas Friedman, who outlined his pro-globalization ideas in a book published in 2007.7 To challenge Friedman’s perspective systematically, Ghemawat published World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It in 2011. In the book, he translates the ideas proposed in “Distance Still Matters” into a variety of economic measures and indicators, showing that globalization is neither complete nor unstoppable. He also applies his ideas of distance and semiglobalization to sociopolitical issues, such as Brexit and Donald Trump’s* election.8
