DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN RELATED AND UNRELATED INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSIFICATION - A COMPREHENSIVE MEASURE OF GLOBAL DIVERSIFICATION

This paper argues that it is important to distinguish between related and unrelated international geographic diversification when measuring impact of diversification on performance. It then extends the Jacquemin-Berry entropy measure to propose a comprehensive measure of global diversification that comprises related and unrelated product diversification, and related and unrelated international geographi diversification. It suggests a classification of firms based on diversification strategies and proposes hypotheses for future research. © 1991, Academy of International Business.