The article “Heterogeneous treatment effects in international business research: potential issues and practical recommendations” jointly by Jiang, H., Li, J., Hu, Y., Xiao, F.(MPU), & Xu, J. has been published in Journal of International Business Studies. (SSCI, SCOPUS)
While a growing body of recent research has cautioned against the issue of heterogeneous treatment effects (HTEs) and the consequent estimation biases thereof, we realized that this issue has not received much attention in the extant IB research. Hence, in this study, we first unveil the theoretical mechanisms underlying the estimation biases of HTEs and highlight their implications and manifestations in IB contexts. Then, by conducting two simulation illustrations contextualized within classic IB contexts, we demonstrate the intensity of biases that could be caused by HTEs in representative identification strategies in IB research. Finally, we synthesize our findings and the insights of the extant research on HTEs to offer a brief checklist to help future IB scholars better discern and remediate HTE-related biases to enhance the empirical rigorousness in IB research.
The article can be read here:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41267-026-00868-5