TY - INPR Y1 - 2025/12/16/ AV - public EP - 26 TI - Influences of country-level factors on corporate governance adherence: an analysis of multinational corporations? subsidiaries in India N1 - This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher?s terms and conditions. PB - EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/cg-03-2024-0131 SN - 1472-0701 N2 - PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the influence of institutional factors on corporate governance (CG) compliance within subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in India, drawing on institutional and legitimacy theories. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The research approach uses a comparative analysis of CG compliance across MNC subsidiaries in India, focusing on the impact of institutional distance between home and host countries, the quality of national governance and the level of corruption in the host country. It further examines how these factors vary between secondary and tertiary industries and between subsidiaries originating in developed versus developing economies. The authors use a range of robust econometric techniques, including semi-parametric methods of panel data models, generalised method of moments and non-parametric method of panel quantile regression, to conduct a comprehensive analysis. FINDINGS: This study suggests three principal findings: First, certain institutional mechanisms, namely, national governance quality index (NGQI), institutional distance and host country corruption (CL), exert a substantial impact on corporate governance compliance index (CGCI) levels in MNC subsidiaries. The empirical evidence reveals a positive and significant relationship between CGCI and NGQI and a negative yet significant relationship with CL at a 1% significance level. Second, the influence of these institutional factors varies across different sectors, suggesting a differential susceptibility to institutional impacts between secondary and tertiary industries. Third, the role of institutional factors diverges based on the subsidiary?s country of origin. The data indicates that the compliance behaviours of subsidiaries from developed and developing economies are distinctly influenced, underscoring the pronounced effects of geographical and economic contexts on CG practices. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This research contributes to the existing literature by providing a comprehensive understanding of how institutional factors affect CG compliance in MNC subsidiaries, with a specific focus on India?s emerging economy. It offers original insights into the differential impacts of institutional factors across industries and origin countries, thereby providing practical recommendations for enhancing CG practices within MNC subsidiaries in emerging economies like India. ID - discovery10204020 A1 - Sharma, N A1 - Gerged, AM A1 - Elheddad, M A1 - Haloub, R A1 - Al-Najjar, B KW - Corporate governance KW - Emerging economy KW - India KW - Institutional theory KW - Legitimacy theory KW - Multinational corporations? subsidiaries JF - Corporate Governance ER -