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The impact of leader characteristics on international activities has been identified in the literature, but leader narcissism, as a psychological feature, has long been neglected, especially in the field of international business. Based on an empirical study of Chinese construction firms over the period between 2006 and 2016, this paper discusses the positive relationships between leaders’ narcissism and firms’ pace of internationalization, as well as the tendency to choose developing countries as destinations. The data also raise strong support for the argument that firm internal factor-foreign listing and external factor-institutional environment (anticorruption) weaken the effects of leader narcissism on international patterns. These research results indicate the effects of leaders’ personality on international management under different internal and external environments and contribute to upper echelons theory. Meanwhile, it is emphasized that leaders’ personal decision-making plays an important role in the strategy and performance of construction firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]