According to foreign direct investment (FDI) path theory, developed countries are grouped into two phases, known as the fourth and fifth phases. Fourth‐phase countries (newly developed economies) show a technological and institutional “gap” in comparison with fifth‐phase economies, which explains their lesser capacity to generate direct investment. We found that these countries, which were less developed economies in the 1980s, had undergone a deep structural transformation. This transformation encouraged the multinationalization of firms, which is a differentiating element and one outcome of their development process. These results have clear policy implications: the governments of newly developed countries should take steps to increase the endowment of knowledge‐intensive assets. The main contribution of this paper is the theoretical reformulation of the fourth phase of the investment development path theory.

We empirically explore the innovation and corporate sustainability link using a large sample of worldwide banks for the period 2003–2016. Our results suggest that service innovation performance enhances the banking industry’s corporate sustainability. In addition, we contribute by proposing a conceptual framework for understanding the link between innovation performance and corporate sustainability in the banking industry. The framework consists of three underlying dimensions—the antecedents of innovation performance, the specific innovation performance initiatives, and how these initiatives are converted into improved corporate sustainability. Our findings provide insights for academics and practitioners on the dynamics between service innovation performance and corporate sustainability in the banking sector. Further, due to the intermediation role of banks in the economy, their evolution towards sustainable banking constitutes a lever for sustainability across other industries and overall sustainable development.