Abstract
The country influence on firms’ internationalization is a fundamental debate in the International Business field. A large number of studies show that home country plays a relevant role in shaping firms’ strategic internationalization choices such as investment decision, location selection, and entry modes. However, these studies mainly focus on the firms’ foreign expansions. Little is known about how home country affects reshoring practices. The purpose of this study is to analyze this influence. By using a sample of 529 cross-industry reshoring projects developed by companies headquartered in five countries (i.e., US, Germany, UK, France, and Italy), the study shows that these projects significantly differ in terms of industry, entry mode choice, firm size and motivations across the analyzed countries. Thus, reshoring turns out to be a country-specific phenomenon. The research further sheds light on the possible institutional, cultural/cognitive and industry/resource-related factors underlying these specificities. This study contributes to both reshoring and international business literature by highlighting the influence that the home country exerts in manufacturing repatriations. It also provides implications for managers dealing with reshoring decisions and policy makers, at a time when several governments are considering the economic and employment potential of reshoring.