Human resources

Context (archaeology)

Biology

Business administration

International business

Economic system

Business management

Economics

Market economy

Business

International trade

Centralisation

Human resource management

Paleontology

Economic geography

Subsidiary

Emerging markets

Management

Political science

Organizational culture

Autonomy

Multinational corporation

Finance

Journal of International Business Studies

We explore determinants of subsidiary autonomy in setting human resource management (HRM) practices within US-parented multinational enterprises (MNEs), in Europe and Australia. We examine both the effect of strategic context and the effect of the institutional location of the subsidiary. We find that US MNEs show greater centralisation of control over HRM where the subsidiary faces global markets, in coordinated market economies vs liberal market economies, and where union density is low.

Human resource management in US subsidiaries in Europe and Australia: centralisation or autonomy?