Spatial distance The previous distance measures are
based on the concept of distance in two dimensions. For
small areas like cities or counties, this is a reasonable
simplification. For longer distances such as those that
span larger countries or continents, measures based on
two dimensions are no longer appropriate, since they fail
to account for the curvature of the earth. Consequently,
global distance measures need to use the gratitude, the
co-ordinate system comprised of latitude and longitude
along with special formulae to calculate the distances.
Lines of latitude run in an east to west direction either
above or below the equator. Lines of longitude run north
and south through the poles, often with the Prime
Meridian (running through Greenwich, England)
measured at 0°. Further details of latitude and longitude
are available [32]. In our study, it is calculated by the
average “city-to-city” great circle distance [33] in
thousands of miles between the capital cities of the focal
firm’s home country and the host country, respectively.