As international business (IB) scholars seek to invigorate the field and steer it away from what some deem a “research coma” resulting from a narrowing scope, the significance of foreign divestment (FD) has once again been relegated amidst other pressing topics. We advocate for elevating FD to the same level of importance as foreign direct investment (FDI). Despite emerging a decade after seminal contributions on FDI, FD has suffered from a notable lack of attention in IB research and educational curricula. However, FD, like FDI, is a common practice among firms and is gaining prominence in light of recent disruptions such as geopolitical conflicts, economic decoupling, digital transformation, and growing skepticism towards globalization. We identify two main setbacks to overcome: the persistent view of FD as merely a misstep in firms' internationalization strategies, and its perception as a subordinate aspect within broader themes of internationalization, including emerging topics such as deglobalization and decoupling. As we elaborate in this commentary, delving into FD at a more granular level can uncover disruptive spillovers that require pushing the boundaries of extant theorizing in IB; neglecting FD leaves the field incomplete and hampers its ability to fully grasp the complexities of global business dynamics.

随着国际商务 (IB) 学者寻求振兴该领域并使其摆脱一些人认为的因范围缩小而导致的“研究昏迷”，外国撤资 (FD) 的重要性再次在其他紧迫话题中被忽视。我们主张将外商投资提升到与外国直接投资（FDI）同等的重要性。尽管 FD 对 FDI 做出了开创性贡献十年后才出现，但 IB 研究和教育课程明显缺乏关注。然而，与外国直接投资一样，外商投资是企业之间的常见做法，并且鉴于最近的地缘政治冲突、经济脱钩、数字化转型以及对全球化日益增长的怀疑等干扰，外商投资日益受到重视。我们确定了需要克服的两个主要挫折：人们一直认为FD仅仅是企业国际化战略中的一个失误，以及将其视为更广泛的国际化主题（包括去全球化和脱钩等新兴主题）中的从属方面。正如我们在这篇评论中详细阐述的那样，在更细粒度的层面上深入研究 FD 可以发现破坏性的溢出效应，这需要突破 IB 中现有理论的界限；忽视 FD 会使该领域变得不完整，并妨碍其充分掌握全球业务动态复杂性的能力。