Talent beyond borders: How executives with overseas experience shape firms’ global supply chain resilience

Talent beyond borders: How executives with overseas experience shape firms’ global supply chain resilience | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Talent beyond borders: How executives with overseas experience shape firms’ global supply chain resilience Xuan Liu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9386092/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This article provides compelling evidence that executives with overseas experience play a crucial role in shaping firms’ global supply chain resilience. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies and supply chain relationship data from the FactSet Revere database, we find that executives with overseas experience can significantly enhance firms’ global supply chain resilience. Cross-sectional analyses indicate that the positive effect is more pronounced in firms characterized by high internal control quality, more overseas subsidiaries, and the absence of foreign shareholding. Moreover, mechanism tests reveal that such executives strengthen firms’ global supply chain resilience by enhancing global competitiveness and alleviating financial constraints. In addition, our examination of economic consequences demonstrates that this enhanced resilience driven by returnee executives translates into substantial economic benefits. Overall, our findings highlight that executives with overseas experience serve as a critical human capital resource for firms striving to maintain stability within complex global production networks. JEL classification: F23, J24, G32, L23 Global supply chain resilience Executives with overseas experience Global competitiveness Financial constraints Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9386092","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":628495704,"identity":"2cdd5c9c-f73a-4d0a-be24-7bb69bfb636a","order_by":0,"name":"Xuan Liu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4ElEQVRIie3RsQrCMBCA4SuFuARdT5T4CgGh+Dg5BDfBMYJDRWkHEVd9C93crAhxiXtHfQQXcRHt4qS0dXPIN+cndwmA4/wh1joc76gZ9xbx/qz0qDipIlPYsVXhL21Xnq0pTgRyicNItCuhCuqXqV9isEYoZWoDmodJT1PIoBbPVH7STBQtdY9Wk7FJadsEtKd1fgIqOaA1tMluSckykNgvSmg8eURP2iUqGFDkl0iw60M9Ym0vWx/KJdywbHwmvOyRUVnDC3dpxYsbvL/yetcjUYvn+ckH/ttxx3Ec56sXGvNN646rN9IAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-11 08:39:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9386092/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9386092/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108668010,"identity":"3ae06624-7ae0-4da5-93ce-bd1c71484c38","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-07 06:57:45","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":470307,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9386092/v1_covered_56952366-b582-42b2-92f0-46cbf7ce8efd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Talent beyond borders: How executives with overseas experience shape firms’ global supply chain resilience","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Global supply chain resilience, Executives with overseas experience, Global competitiveness, Financial constraints","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9386092/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9386092/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis article provides compelling evidence that executives with overseas experience play a crucial role in shaping firms’ global supply chain resilience. 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