Does learning at home and from abroad boost the foreign subsidiary performance of emerging economy multinational enterprises?

• We examine the extent to which domestic learning and host market learning affect the subsidiary performance of Chinese multinational enterprises.
• Domestic learning through collaboration with foreign firms at home and host market learning positively contribute to subsidiary performance.
• There are some synergetic effects between domestic learning and host market learning.

Based on a sample of Chinese firms that have undertaken outward FDI, we examine the extent to which domestic learning and host market learning affect subsidiary performance. The findings indicate that domestic learning through collaboration with foreign firms at home, and host market learning, positively contribute to subsidiary performance. We find some synergetic effects between domestic learning and host market learning, and these two types of learning jointly shape subsidiary performance. By providing new empirical insights into the performance implications of different types of learning, this study helps advance our understanding of EMNEs.