Equity-based entry modes of emerging country multinationals: Lessons from Turkey

Based on a sample of 522 foreign affiliates of Turkish multinational enterprises (MNEs) with varying levels of Turkish equity ownership, this study provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of equity-based entry mode strategies in host country markets. A number of hypotheses are developed to examine the impact of institutional, transaction specific and firm level variables on Turkish MNEs’ choice of equity ownership mode in their foreign affiliates. The results reveal that institutional variables are important in explaining the equity composition of foreign affiliates of Turkish MNEs. Particularly important in determining equity ownership mode were found to be political constraints, linguistic distance, knowledge infrastructure and the extent of parent diversity. Results concerning the influences of the size of the affiliate are contrary to expectations and contradict the findings of previous research. No support was found for the impact of cultural distance on the equity ownership mode of Turkish MNEs in their foreign affiliates. Apart from political constraints, equity ownership choice and its underlying determinants do not vary between emerging and developed host country markets.     

Factors influencing perceptions of performance: The case of western FDI in an emerging market

This paper adopts an integrative approach to incorporate institutional, host country and firm variables as determinants of the factors influencing perceptions of foreign affiliate performance. Based on primary data from 145 affiliates of Western MNEs in Turkey, the findings show that the factors of input quality, comparative cost advantages and government regulations demonstrate a statistically significant impact on the perception of performance of affiliates. In contrast, political risk, financial incentives and cultural distance do not have any significant impact on the perception of performance of affiliates. The findings indicate that firm specific factors are less important than either institutional or perceived environment-specific factors within the host country in influencing perceptions of foreign affiliate performance.     

The merits of horizontal versus vertical FDI in the presence of uncertainty

We examine the impact of uncertainty on vertical and horizontal FDI. Our model shows that greater supply uncertainty reduces the expected income from vertical FDI but increases the expected income from horizontal FDI. Greater demand uncertainty adversely affects the expected income under both production modes. Uncertainty about predatory actions by the host country is more costly to the multinational under vertical than under the horizontal mode. We examine sales by foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies. Conditioning on host-country characteristics thought to influence FDI, we find evidence that volatility and sovereign risk have a greater negative impact on vertical FDI than on horizontal FDI.     

The impact of foreign ownership,local ownership and industry characteristics on spillover benefits from foreign direct investment in China

This paper finds that significant variation in FDI spillover effects on local industry is obscured through the aggregation common in most studies. Breaking Chinese industrial data for 2001 down by category of ownership of foreign investor, local firm, and by host industry, we find evidence of greater positive spillovers from FDI in technology-intensive industries than in labour-intensive industries. We also find that overseas Chinese affiliates from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (HMT) generate spillovers to locally owned enterprises (LOEs) in labour-intensive industries, in contrast to western affiliates, which positively impact on the performance of LOEs in technology-intensive industries. Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) benefit from the presence of both HMT affiliates in labour-intensive industries and of western affiliates in technology-intensive industries. Other LOEs (OLOEs), however, benefit only from HMT affiliates’ presence in labour-intensive industries. These findings offer some support to host government policies offering generous incentive packages to attract foreign investors in high-technology industries. We find that some aspects of China's status as a transition economy—for example the considerable resources and effective control deployed by the state and SOEs—has helped its development process; however we argue that it is possible for non-transition developing economies to implement similar policies.     

Institutional and transaction cost influences on MNEs’ ownership strategies of their affiliates: Evidence from an emerging market

This paper examines the impact of institutional, and transaction cost specific variables on MNEs’ choice of equity ownership in their foreign affiliates. We consider the determinants of the choice of foreign investors between full ownership (setting up a wholly owned greenfield subsidiary or engaging in a full acquisition) and sharing ownership with a local firm (establishing a greenfield joint venture or making a partial acquisition). Drawing on both transaction cost and institutional theories, a number of hypotheses are developed. Based on a dataset of 6838 foreign affiliates in Turkey, the empirical analysis reveals that institutional variables are important in explaining the equity composition of foreign affiliates. Particularly important in determining equity ownership were found to be political risk, cultural distance, linguistic distance, agglomeration, location and the size of the affiliate. A distinguishing feature of the paper is that we examine the marginal effects of the independent variables in explaining ownership patterns of MNEs.     

Factor Prices,Factor Substitution and Exporting in US Manufacturing Affiliates Abroad

This paper uses the unique matched individual parent and affiliate data from the foreign investment survey of the Bureau of Economic Analysis to examine how US firms of different industries and capital intensities at home adapt to lower costs of labour and other host‐country characteristics in their foreign production. We find that foreign affiliates of US multinationals carry their parent firms’ technology with them in producing abroad. That is, affiliates of capital‐intensive parents produce in a relatively capital‐intensive manner wherever they are located. Despite these resemblances to their parents, affiliates produce in a more labour‐intensive manner where labour is cheaper and also where the scale of production is small. We found no evidence that more labour‐intensive firms selected production locations where labour was cheaper. Labour costs dominated the methods of production but not its location. Affiliates that export are more responsive in their factor proportions to the labour costs where they produced than affiliates selling only in their host countries. The probability that an affiliate would export, however, did not seem to be much affected by factor proportions. It was much more closely related to the scale of the affiliate's operations; larger affiliates were more likely to be exporters.     

Efficiency Sorting Among Foreign Affiliates: Evidence From China

This paper uses a large micro‐level data set to investigate the efficiency sorting pattern of foreign affiliates serving different markets. We find systematic differences among the attributes of foreign affiliates serving the local and overseas markets. Affiliates serving only the host country market are the most productive, the most capitalintensive and the most skill‐intensive. Affiliates serving only the international market are the most unskilled and labour‐intensive, the least efficient, pay the lowest wages and invest least in innovation and advertising. Affiliates serving both markets offer high wages and invest most in innovation and advertising. The results also suggest that the most productive affiliates choose to serve the host country market, whereas the least efficient affiliates target the international market.     

Determinants of the Profitability of Japanese Manufacturing Affiliates in China and Other Regions: Does Localisation of Procurement,Sales and Management Matter?

Does localisation of procurements, sales and management contribute to the profitability of overseas affiliates? This study examines this question by analysing the performance of Japanese multinationals’ manufacturing affiliates in China using an affiliate‐level dataset for the period from 1989 to 2002 collected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. We find that even though foreign multinationals often seem to enter China for the local market potential, affiliates with a higher local sales ratio tend to be less profitable – a pattern that is conspicuously different from that observed for Japanese affiliates in other regions such as the USA or the ASEAN4, where local sales orientation has a positive impact on profitability. On the other hand, we find that Japanese affiliates’ profitability was positively associated with their local procurement ratio. Using the coefficients of the profit function estimated from data on all Japanese manufacturing affiliates around the world, we calculate the effect of local sales and procurements on profitability by country, controlling for the level of GDP and per capita GDP. In the case of China, the localisation effects are positive following the country’s accession to the WTO, suggesting that both local procurement and sales expansion contribute to higher profitability in China.     

Cross-border acquisitions vs. Greenfield investment: A comparative performance analysis in Greece

This paper compares cross-border acquisition with Greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI). It investigates the impact of these two FDI modes on the long-term performance of foreign subsidiaries. By focusing on the performance of the foreign affiliate, it departs from the rich survival literature and for the first time explores the precise performance of these ventures over a longer period of time. In particular, by drawing on the theory of industrial organization (IO), we empirically examine to which extent the two different forms of market entry help to explain the development of leading positions of affiliates in the host country. Our field research is based on a wide original sample of 179 manufacturing subsidiaries of foreign transnational corporations (TNCs) located in Greece. The econometric results indicate that acquisitions exhibit specific signs of excellence in terms of market share, firm size, capital intensity and product differentiation. We ascertain that at least as far as market share and capital intensity are concerned, the superiority of the cross-border acquisitions rests on both the fact that TNCs are eager to acquire the most efficient firms in the host country, and actively engage in assisting these firms in their up-grading procedures.     

Board composition,family ownership,institutional distance and the foreign equity ownership strategies of Turkish MNEs

In much of the developing world, families represent the dominant form of firm ownership. This study investigates how this influences equity ownership strategies when firms venture abroad. Drawing on agency theory and institutional theory, we investigate the direct effect of board composition and family ownership on the equity-based ownership strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in their affiliates, and how institutional distance may moderate this. Examining foreign affiliates of listed Turkish MNEs, we find that a high ratio of independent directors is negatively linked to levels of equity ownership of MNE affiliates. We also find that a high ratio of inside directors on the board is positively associated with the equity stake of MNEs in their affiliates. The significant interaction effect between board composition, family ownership and institutional distance helps explain the unexpectedly weak effects of institutional distance.     

Institutional conditions,economic policy uncertainty and foreign institutional investment in China

This paper investigates the influence of host and home country institutional conditions on foreign institutional investment. Utilizing longitudinal and multilevel data on foreign institutional investment in Chinese listed firms between 2004 and 2017, we document that foreign institutional investment decreases with increasing economic policy uncertainty in the host nation. We also find that foreign institutional investors respond more strongly to local economic policy uncertainty when their home nations are closer to China, are culturally and administratively similar to China, operate a smaller domestic stock market, and have weaker minority shareholder protection. The impact of economic policy uncertainty on foreign institutional investment is also stronger when the host nation institution is more developed and open.. Moreover, we reveal the mediating role of stock market volatility on this relationship. Overall, we document that foreign institutional investment is not only shaped by institutional conditions in the host country but also influenced by home country characteristics that define geographical and institutional distance between home and host nations.     

The role of subsidiary learning behavior and absorptive capacity in foreign subsidiary expansion

We examine how subsidiaries can implement business expansion successfully to capitalize on growth potentials. Building on our baseline hypothesis, which examines the effect of the extent of business expansion on subsidiary divestment, we identify the boundary condition of the tendency of subsidiary’s learning behavior in foreign expansion. Specifically, we argue that subsidiaries that expand multiple businesses through competence-creating learning behaviors are more likely to be divested due to increasing complexity. We further suggest a remedial condition to offer a viable approach to implement business expansion through competence-creating learning successfully. Based on a sample of 6040 foreign subsidiaries operating over 14 years, we show that affiliates are more likely to expand into unfamiliar business domains successfully if they have a higher level of absorptive capacity.     

The FDI location decision: Distance and the effects of spatial dependence

We investigate how different conceptions of distance impact upon one of the fundamental decisions made by foreign investors, the choice of foreign direct investment (FDI) location within the selected host country. We argue that the attractiveness of host country locations to foreign investors depends not only upon location-specific attributes such as labor costs, but also upon the location's proximity to alternative locations. We provide theoretical rationales for how and why alternative concepts of distance might impact upon firms’ FDI location decisions, and explicitly model different measures of geographic, economic and administrative distance. Empirically we illustrate the use of a number of spatial regression models with a new dataset on FDI in Chinese prefecture-cities, and have shown, in this context, that geographic distance is not the ‘best’ measure of distance to use. We find clear evidence of spatial dependence between the cities based upon economic distance, with weaker evidence related to administrative distance. The distinctive contribution of this paper is to emphasize that city-level policy to attract FDI is more likely to succeed if the prefecture-city is economically (and administratively) close to alternative city locations, while any policy expenditure may fail to attract FDI inflows if the prefecture-city is distant from other city locations.     

FDI Inflow and Human Development: Analysis of FDI's Impact on Host Countries' Social Welfare and Infrastructure

We examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the mediating effects of country national governance on the welfare and knowledge infrastructure of host countries. Based on a five‐year anchored panel data of 175 countries producing over 9,000 observations, we find that in general FDI has a positive influence on both host country welfare and knowledge infrastructure and the national governance positively mediates these relationships.¹ © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Investment motive as a moderator of cultural-distance and relative knowledge relationships with foreign subsidiary ownership structure

In this analysis, we seek to contribute to the growing body of literature exploring moderators of cross-national differences and foreign subsidiary ownership structure relationships, by developing the argument that cultural distance and majority-owned foreign subsidiary relationships will be positively moderated if a subsidiary serves a manufacturing motive, as opposed to a market-seeking motive. Additionally, we argue that relationships between increasingly greater levels of host country technical knowledge, relative to a firm's home country, and the use of majority-owned foreign subsidiary structures will be negatively moderated by manufacturing motives. These ideas are tested, and supported, in the empirical context of subsidiaries of Japanese automotive firms from 1993 through 2009.     

Sourcing patterns of export‐platform foreign affiliates: The case of Japanese affiliates in Mexico

This study investigates the sourcing patterns of Japanese export‐platform foreign affiliates in Mexico, which mainly export to the United States and Canada. We propose a novel approach to estimate intermediate input elasticities of exports by sourcing country. We find that, on average, Japanese export‐platform foreign affiliates in Mexico source intermediate inputs from third countries, including the United States and Canada, rather than from Japan and Mexico, suggesting that Japanese export‐platform foreign affiliates in Mexico are mainly integrated into the vertical production networks back and forth between Mexico, the United States and Canada. In turn, Japanese foreign affiliates selling domestically in Mexico source intermediate inputs not only within the North American Free Trade Agreement countries but also from Japan. In addition, we find that export‐platform foreign affiliates in Mexico use more labour‐intensive production than do foreign affiliates selling domestically in Mexico. This suggests that saving labour costs is one of the motives for export‐platform foreign direct investment in Mexico.     

Determinants of Sales Destinations of U.S. Multinational Firms' Affiliates in Developing Countries

This study examines the determinants of the sales of .U.S. multinational firms' affiliates to alternative destinations, including sales to other affiliate firms in a host country and a source country markets as well as sales to other non-affiliate persons in each market. Sample host countries are drawn from developing economies where U.S. multinational firms had affiliate firms during the period 1983–1998. The results of the study reveal that affiliates of multinational firms manipulate sales to minimize international taxation. This is supported by the finding that foreign corporate income taxes: affect sales between affiliate firms favorably, unlike its impacts on sales of affiliates to non-affiliate persons in both a host country and source country markets. Considering all markets together, economic volatility and political instability have minimal impacts on sales of affiliates to other affiliate firms compared to their impacts on sales to non-affiliate persons. The results also confirm that host countries' economic policy reforms and membership in multinational investment guarantee agencies facilitate sales of affiliates to other affiliate firms.     

How much does host country matter,really?

How much does the host country matter in explaining foreign affiliate performance? Using a global sample of 34,708 foreign affiliates operating in 91 host countries, we revisit the relative importance of the host country effect as a performance determinant. Our variance decomposition results suggest that the host country effect is less salient than previously identified, often explaining a small portion of affiliate performance differences. We offer implications for future international strategy research on foreign affiliate performance, advancing an understanding of the relative importance of external and internal determinants. We direct scholarly attention to other effect classes, namely the affiliate effect.     

The role of market orientation,relational capital,and internationalization speed in foreign market exit and re-entry decisions under turbulent conditions

Firms’ internationalization strategies can vary with changing environments. Occasionally, a firm may choose to re-enter a foreign market it had abandoned in the past if environmental conditions have improved. The present study provides insight into the foreign market exit and subsequent re-entry processes. Specifically, we utilize the strategic flexibility perspective to investigate the impact of market orientation, relational capital, and internationalization speed on market exit and re-entry decisions under turbulence in a host market. Using a sample of 156 Turkish firms that operated during the Arab Spring in the Egyptian market between 2010 and 2015, we find that the market-oriented firms are more flexible in their market exit decisions than less market-oriented organizations. In addition, relational capital specific to the host country has a negative impact on market exit decisions under conditions of political conflict. The results also suggest that strong ties with partners in the host country increase the propensity to re-enter the market.