Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of cultural distance on the ownership level assumed when international markets are targeted, and how managers are more likely to change their mind when we take into account the moderating effect of country risk. To this end, we have reviewed the pertinent literature as well as several Spanish case studies. The statistic verification has been performed by a negative binomial regression model over the Spanish manufacturing sector (2000-2005). The results support our assumptions about the effect that the two most relevant target country dimensions have on the commitment level and allow us to propose several recommendations that managers should take into account every time they have to deal with a new international operation.
