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The subjective well-being (SWB) of people increasingly concerns policymakers
and economists alike. But what matters, after basic income concerns are satisfied,
has sparked debates. Social comparison theory (SCT) offers an intuitive answer,
which explains happiness as an outcome of comparisons to the social environment
and past experiences. Examining this theory as a potential determinant of wellbeing,
we discover that the advent of the Internet has led to a dramatic shift in
parameters, potentially magnifying the impact of social comparisons.
For a number of reasons, China and Germany serve as an ideal testing ground for
the hypothesised relations: Both share a surprisingly similar SWB trajectory, but,
whereas China has recently experienced a rapid expansion of Internet access,
Germany already saw widespread adoption of this technology for over a decade.
Therefore, looking at survey data from the China General Social Survey from 2011
to 2015, promised to yield conclusive answers about this triangular relation.
Findings suggest that, first, social comparison concerns predict subjective wellbeing
better than any objective measures. Second, only in China was spending
more time online associated with an improved life satisfaction and better social
comparison outcomes. Here, having access was more important than the
frequency of use. This could imply that individuals initially gain immensely from
the introduction of the Internet, in terms of social comparison outcomes, but that
those effects wear off over time.
The accelerated international spread of Chinese MNEs is a process which has gained a lot of attention lately through its recent internationalization strategies. The internationalization of Emergent Market (EM) MNEs is not a new phenomenon, however, trying to describe the internationalization process of Chinese MNEs in developed markets revealed new perspectives on how these firms internationalize while trying to secure key assets in those markets. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the internationalization process of Chinese MNEs through the springboard perspective where Romania is chosen as the spring country. Based on the propositions developed based on the theoretical part, the findings section will reveal the results of the analysis and combined with the interviewees’ response will deliver new information regarding this topic. This paper aims to discuss the internationalization process of Chinese EM MNEs in Romania and to bring a new topic into discussion revealed by the research gap, namely to assess the viability of Romania being a springboard country for China’s strategy of internationalization from four main perspectives: competitiveness, asset-seeking, support from home government and unique challenges. On the other hand, the successful Sino-Hungarian relation led to massive Chinese investment in the country and to the internationalization of Chinese products. For this reason, Hungary has been chosen as a comparative country in order to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of Romania as a springboard country for Chinese EM MNEs. In addition, the discussion part will reveal the managerial implications and the challenges the internationalization process of Chinese EM MNEs in Romania will be linked with.