Assets of origin? Chinese multinational enterprises amidst the Belt and Road Initiative

This article reviews the current literature on the implications of the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative for Chinese multinational enterprises (CMNEs) and calls for further empirical investigations of the motivations, processes, and consequences of the expansion of CMNEs into B&R countries. We posit that the rapid expansion of CMNEs in these countries indicates assets, rather than liabilities, for the county of origin. Empirical studies in this special issue provide new insights into what is “Chinese” about Chinese foreign direct investment in B&R countries and how the “assets of origin” may play a role in CMNEs' expansion in B&R countries.     

“Going global” and FDI inflows in China: “One Belt & One Road” initiative as a quasi‐natural experiment

This paper investigates the impact of “One Belt & One Road” as an exogenous policy shock on the utilisation of foreign capital in China in the short term. Based on provincial panel data for the years 2003–15, the empirical study is conducted with difference‐in‐differences design. The first difference is whether a province is an OBOR province, and the second is whether “One Belt & One Road” initiative has been proposed. The empirical results suggest the utilisation of foreign capital in OBOR provinces has decreased significantly compared to non‐OBOR provinces after the initiative has been proposed. The study has further shown that the OBOR construction not only means factor movements and projects but also stands for policy shock. Its impact on utilisation of foreign capital cannot be simply captured by the commonly quantifiable “going global” indicators, namely outward direct investment, overseas contracted projects or overseas labour services. The negative impact of the initiative on foreign capital utilisation is strongly reflected in the OBOR provinces with low levels of economic development, heavy fiscal burdens and high proportions of state‐owned economy. In the short term, the negative impact of the initiative on foreign capital utilisation may be due to its role in resource competition and signal delivering. The former means that the OBOR initiative may induce resource competition between “going global” and “bringing in,” and the latter suggests that this initiative is likely to be regarded as a “signal” by foreign investors that “going global,” not “bringing in,” has become the priority of the government.     

The spillover effects of China's monetary policy shock: Evidence from B&R countries

This paper examines the international spillover effects of China's monetary policy shock on macro and financial variables in 26 countries along the Belt and Road (B&R) from 2000 to 2019. We find that a surprise Chinese monetary tightening brings about a widening in the short-term interest rate spread, a drop in the equity price, nominal depreciation against the RMB and real depreciation, and an improvement in the trade balance, on average, across the 26 B&R countries. Moreover, substantial heterogeneous effects emerge in the responses of the foreign real exchange rate and the trade balance in different groups in terms of the 26 countries' trade weights with China, capital openness, and national income levels. Finally, all the empirical evidence reveals that the expenditure switching effect plays an important role in facilitating the international transmission of China's monetary policy shock.     

“一带一路”沿线国家投资便利化对中国对外直接投资的影响:理论与经验证据

文章通过构建投资便利化评价指标体系,运用熵值法定量测度"一带一路"沿线国家的投资便利化水平,并基于拓展引力模型实证检验其对中国对外直接投资(OFDI)的影响。研究发现:"一带一路"沿线国家投资便利化建设能够显著促进中国OFDI增长,其中制度质量改善对中国OFDI的促进作用最大。异质性分析表明,亚非地区、中等收入水平、资源禀赋欠丰富、市场潜力大以及与中国投资合作信任度高的沿线国家通过推进投资便利化建设,对中国OFDI的促进作用更明显。机制检验表明,沿线各国推进投资便利化建设,可以通过削减投资成本、提高投资效率以及降低投资风险等渠道对中国OFDI产生显著正向影响。最后聚焦行业差异的分析表明,沿线国家投资便利化建设能显著促进中国制造业和服务业OFDI扩展边际的提高,且对后者的促进作用更大。     

欢盟外资并购国家安全审查制度对中国的启示

21世纪以来,欧盟主要国家纷纷修改外资并购立法,加大对外资并购国冢安全的审查,审查标准趋亍严格．审查范围愈发扩大。这种外资审查立法权扩张的冲动受到来自《欧共体条约》所确立的资本自由化原则的制约。在国际投资政策趋紧的背景下,中国公司近年来在欧美国家的外资并购不断受阻。深入理解欧盟外资并购立法的规定是当前中国企业制定国际化战略的基本要求。     

中国在“一带一路”区域的投资结构变化及发展趋势

"一带一路"区域在中国对外投资中的地位日益重要,投资收益能否得到保障至关重要。以中国在"一带一路"区域投资结构为研究对象,从数量、地区、行业等方面分析投资结构现状,根据投资导向差异,可以分为技术寻求型、能源导向型、效率导向型和市场需求型等四类投资。针对2011—2017年四类投资在中国对"一带一路"区域投资结构中的权重变化,选用熵值法、描述性统计和散点图相结合的分析方法辅助研究,结果显示:第一,受中国能源安全战略和供给侧结构性改革的影响,能源导向型投资和市场需求型投资的权重不断加大,但中国在"一带一路"区域的投资结构未发生根本性变化;第二,技术寻求型投资因沿线国家普遍缺乏先进技术、知识产权保护意识和研究成果转化能力而面临低品质发展的危险;第三,随着互联互通进程的加速,中国的能源导向型投资呈现分散化态势,这有助于中国更好地落实能源安全战略;第四,技术导向型和市场需求型投资有高质量发展的条件和趋势,其中,技术寻求型投资以技术和成本优势为标准正在形成"两升一降"的投资格局,但是有助于中国提升国际竞争力的高效率投资比重小,市场需求型投资以一般贸易和产业链形式可以促使中国与沿线国家经济结构的互补性得到充分发挥,切实在"一带一路"区域形成共享经济体。     

The effects of social networks on the flow of international students

International study provides many benefits to the countries that host students, to the students’ home countries and to the students themselves. We extend the empirical knowledge regarding flows of international students, using a panel of data that spans 17 years, 26 host countries and 85 countries of origin. We examine the hypothesis that social networks are an important factor motivating study abroad by including lagged variables of the levels and shares of enrolment in the analysis. The analysis shows that they are significant factors: a 1% rise in a host country's share of an origin country's international student “diaspora” is associated with a 0.09%–0.12% rise in the number of students studying in that host from that origin, 5 years later. This is consistent with the literature on the economics of immigration, which finds social networks to be important, and transitory, in inducing immigration. These effects are found in models that control for other factors as well: earnings differentials, quality of higher education system, distance, common language and colonial relationship. The results suggest that one‐off policies to better recruit or attract international students will have ongoing benefits, in terms of follow‐on recruitment of further students by the initial students.     

Dismantling institutional complexity behind international competitiveness of emerging market firms

The paper examines the perceived role of emerging market institutions in the creation of firm‐specific advantages of local small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) supporting international expansion and competitiveness. Our objective is to deepen conceptual understanding of the complex link between emerging market institutional factors and an ability of emerging market SMEs to compete internationally. Our empirical evidence from Russian software SMEs operating in global niche markets reveals that managers perceive institutional influence on their firms' ability to compete internationally in a number of direct and indirect means. We find that, in addition to the well acknowledged negative impact of institutions, there are supportive and triggering forces that incentivize SMEs' international expansion and development of competitive advantages. We contribute to the literature by elaborating about the complexity of institutional influence on international competitiveness of emerging market SMEs. This research offers insights for managers about the prospects of international expansion of SMEs from emerging markets.     

The great trade collapse and Indian firms

The collapse in global trade during the 2008–09 crisis has been widely studied using the developed nation(s) data. I use firm‐level data from Indian manufacturers to show that: (a) Indian firms experience strong negative demand shocks concerning their exports to the USA and the EU, the effect being significantly higher in case of the USA. Results assert that 1% increase in the exposure towards the crisis‐affected zones (the USA and the EU combined) reduces an average Indian manufacturing firm's export earnings by 1.17%–1.36%; (b) trade in consumer non‐durables and durables are the two most affected sectors, impact being higher for the latter; (c) evidence in support of similar effects throughout the size distribution of firms, with the effect being highest for small or the most vulnerable firms; (d) drop in demand, as a result of the 2008–09 crisis, only affects the high‐exposure industries. My results are robust to IV analysis and a variety of checks.     

Dual liability and the moderating effect of corporate social responsibility–Evidence from Belt&Road investment of Chinese firms

Our examination of 796 Chinese firms that invested in the Belt&Road (B&R) region from 2008 to 2015 shows that Chinese firms often encounter liability of foreignness (LOF) and liability of origin (LOR). Our empirical results reveal that larger institutional distance is related to significant performance decrease, which evidences liability of foreignness for Chinese multinationals. Moreover, Chinese firms with concentrated ownership see their financial performance adversely affected after the B&R initiative, which further validates the argument for liability of origin. We found that firms' Corporate Social Responsibility performance (CSR) has a significant, positive “institutional moderating” effect, that is buffering conflicts between Chinese firms and local stakeholders, and projecting a favorable institutional image to mitigate Chinese multinationals' dual liabilities in the B&R region. Firms with better Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance are more likely to avoid political risk. CSR has been a buffering and bridge mechanism in government inefficiency, lower regulatory quality, lower rule of law and less control of corruption and reducing rent seeking behavior.Therefore, investment in CSR and more inclusive ownership schemes may assist Chinese firms' long survival across the B&R region.