Technological Constraints, Firm Heterogeneity, and Location Choice of Multinational Enterprises

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 996-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Nishiyama ◽  
Masao Yamaguchi
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Angulo-Ruiz ◽  
Albena Pergelova ◽  
William X. Wei

Purpose This research aims to assess variations of motivations when studying international location decisions. In particular, this study aims to assess the influence of diverse motivations – seeking technology, seeking brand assets, seeking markets, seeking resources and escaping institutional constraints – as determinants of the international location choice of emerging market multinational enterprises (EM MNEs) entering least developed, emerging, and developed countries. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a set of hypotheses based on the ownership–location–internalization framework and complement it with an institutional perspective. The conceptual model posits that the different internationalization motivations (seeking technology, seeking brand assets, seeking markets, seeking resources and escaping institutional constraints) will impact the location choice of EM MNEs in developed economies, emerging markets or least developed countries. This study uses the 2013 survey data collected by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. The final sample of analysis of this research includes 693 observations. Findings After controlling for several variables, two-stage Heckman regressions show there is a variation of motivations when EM MNEs enter least developed countries, emerging markets and developed economies. EM MNEs are motivated to enter least developed countries to seek markets and resources. Conversely, those firms enter developed countries in their search for technological assets and to escape institutional constraints at home. While the present study findings show a clear difference in the motivations that lead to location choice in least developed vs developed countries, the results are not as clear for location in other emerging countries. Research limitations/implications The paper offers empirical support for the importance of motivations as crucial determinants of location choice. Originality/value This paper provides a detailed quantitative study on the internationalization location choice of EM MNEs based on their motivations. Though theoretical models underscore the importance of motivations, we know very little about how, in practice, motivations drive location choice. This study contributes to the international location choice literature a deeper understanding of how diverse motivations drive choices of expansion into developed economies, emerging markets or least developed countries.


2013 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 521-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuo-I Chang ◽  
Kazunobu Hayakawa ◽  
Toshiyuki Matsuura

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maitri Ghosh ◽  
Saikat Sinha Roy

Using firm-level data, this paper investigates whether foreign direct investment and the presence of multinational enterprises explains India's improved export performance during the postreform period. The recent literature stresses that firm heterogeneity gives some firms an edge over others to self-select into export markets. Apart from ownership, this paper considers firm heterogeneity and other firm-specific factors of export performance. Estimation results show that the impact of foreign ownership on export performance does not significantly differ from that of domestic firms across sectors in Indian manufacturing. Rather, firms build their international competitiveness by importing raw materials and foreign technical know-how, and by investing in research and development. Further, firm heterogeneity, measured in terms of sunk costs, significantly impacts firm-level export intensity. The study also reveals that there are ownership-specific factors that determine firm-level exports.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitsuyo Ando ◽  
Fukunari Kimura

Does outward foreign direct investment accelerate de-industrialization at home or generate domestic jobs and operations? This paper applies the job creation (JC)/destruction (JD) method to micro data of Japanese manufacturing firms and provides a bird's eye view of the dynamism of globalizing firms in terms of domestic employment, domestic establishments, domestic affiliates, exports, and imports. It examines gross and net changes in domestic operations by multinational enterprises (MNEs) that expand operations abroad (expanding MNEs), compared with non-expanding MNEs and local firms, for the periods of 1998–2002, 2002–06, 2006–08, and 2008–10. It also conducts the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to investigate whether the changes in domestic operations and trade by expanding MNEs are larger than those by other firm types. Major findings are the following: (1) gross changes in domestic employment and domestic operations are much larger than net changes, showing restructuring dynamism and firm heterogeneity; (2) de-industrialization or the shrinkage of the manufacturing sector is not relevant except for the period 1998–2002, though a slight declining trend in manufacturing activities is observed in recent years; (3) expanding multinational small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) tends to enlarge domestic employment and domestic operations, compared with other types of SMEs; (4) expanding MNEs intensify headquarters activities; and (5) expanding multinational SMEs are likely to expand exports and imports more than other types of SMEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Abdisalan Salad Warsame

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow to Africa has unevenly distributed investment location choices of multinational enterprises because of some exogenous economic factors associated with the locations, which vary across countries in Africa. The data used in the paper comes from Financial Times, World Bank, African Development Bank. This paper investigated what determines the location choice of FDI inflow to Africa using data on 3,768 firms from 88 countries making location choices in 54 African countries using a multicategory logistic regression. The findings show that: (1) the natural resource seeking enterprises invest more in landlocked countries relative to manufacturing and tertiary sector; (2) the natural resource seeking firms are less concerned about local market size and location’s economic condition comparing to manufacturing and service industries; (3) despite the accusation against the multinational enterprises (MNEs) for exploiting Africa’s natural resources, most of the MNEs choose locations with a large market size and better economic development; (4) the MNEs from developed economies prefer the location with a large market size and a better-developed economy comparing to those from the developing economies.


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