Technical Efficiency and Location Choice of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

We establish a theoretical model to explain the relationship between the regional technical efficiencies and production location choice. A higher regional technical efficiency level attracts foreign direct investment (FDI) and offsets the adverse effects of a high wage rate and setup cost. Data from Taiwan's SMEs during the period 1989–1996 are collected. Observations are classified into three exclusive and exhaustive groups: SMEs without FDI, SMEs with FDI in mainland China, and SMEs with FDI in other countries. We then apply the multi-logit model to test the relationship between the technical efficiency and FDI location choice. Taiwan's SMEs with higher technical efficiencies are less likely to invest in mainland China. Technical efficiencies do not significantly influence the location choice between Taiwan and other countries. The wage rate is a significant motive for SMEs to invest internationally, while the setup cost is not an important factor to affect firms' location choices.     

Exports and FDI motivations: Empirical evidence from U.S. foreign subsidiaries

Foreign direct investments (FDI) are supposed to bring into the host countries indirect benefits, usually referred as productivity spillover effects. However, an emerging literature analyses the effect with regard to the export performance of local firms finding inconclusive results. This literature is affected by two main shortcomings: firstly, the role played by FDI motivations is largely disregarded and, secondly, it is difficult to generalise results valid across countries. For these reasons, the aim of the paper is that of testing the effects of U.S. FDI on export intensity at the sectoral level in 16 OECD countries over the period 1990–2001 by bringing together international economics and international business perspective on FDI motivations. Through our data, we disentangle asset seeking and asset exploiting FDI motivations distinguishing also the channels through which the effect is going to occur. The findings show that asset exploiting motivations, and in particular market seeking FDI, are those that affect export intensity to a greater extent.     

Effect of SMEs' International Experience on Foreign Intensity and Economic Performance: The Mediating Role of Internationally Exploitable Assets and Competitive Strategy

In this paper, we study the relationship between the international experience of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and their economic performance using intangible and financial asset stock, competitive strategy, and international intensity as mediating factors. The RBV provides the theoretical framework to develop a theoretical model postulating that international experience has an indirect effect on foreign growth and economic performance. This model was used to test a sample of 394 Spanish SMEs through the modelization of a structural equations system. Results show that superior economic performance is only achieved by SMEs that can turn the knowledge they gain from international experience into a large endowment of internationally exploitable intangible assets (irrespective of the fact that these assets form the basis for strengthening international intensity) and into a differentiation competitive strategy.     

The Chinese outward foreign direct investment motives in ASEAN countries through export performance: The role of competitive intensity among Chinese smartphone manufacturers

This study aims to examine the impact of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) objectives on the achievement of export performance under competitive intensity. We apply the diverse theoretical perspectives of the eclectic paradigm and institutional theory. Primary data were collected from 162 Chinese manufacturer–exporter companies. Specifically, this research shows that Chinese OFDI motives increase its export performance in ASEAN markets. Furthermore, we discover that competitive intensity moderates the relationship between strategic assets-seeking foreign direct investment (FDI) motive and export performance, but not the relationship between market-seeking FDI motive and export performance. Hence, this study presents a holistic assessment of Chinese smartphone manufacturers' export performance by accounting for the overlooked effect of firms seeking FDI motive through the moderating of competitive intensity.     

Intermediary Products: FDI Strategies,Imports, Exports,and Trade Balances in Developed Economies

Has the relationship between the dominant investment motives of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and national trade balances, imports, and exports changed over time? A 1996 study hypothesized and found that the MNE market versus resource seeking investment motives in developed countries (DCs) resulted in different aggregate impacts on national trade balances, imports, and exports. In this study, we ask whether the increased use of intermediary products, a major change in the way MNEs conduct business, affect the previously found patterns. Because firm‐level data on intermediary products is not widely available across countries, we indirectly test their impact, hypothesizing that the rise in use of intermediary products has changed MNE investment motives in DCs, resulting in stronger relationships between foreign direct investment (FDI) and imports/exports in high‐FDI DCs but weaker links between FDI and national trade balances. Implications and future research directions are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

SME foreign market entry mode choice and foreign venture performance: The moderating effect of international experience and product adaptation

Firms’ foreign market entry mode choice attracts considerable research attention. However, the performance implications of this choice remain inconclusive, particularly in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The present paper draws on the resource-based view (RBV) and develops a theoretical model specifically tailored to the context of SMEs in order to study the relationship between entry mode choice and foreign venture performance. Testing hypotheses on 133 German SMEs, we show that international experience as a resource and product adaptation as a capability improve the performance of non-equity entry modes by mitigating liabilities of smallness inherent to SMEs. We furthermore find empirical support for the joint moderating effect of international experience and product adaptation on the focal relation. Our findings contribute to the SME foreign market entry mode literature and have implications for practitioners and future research.     

SMEs,foreign direct investment and financial constraints: The case of Belgium

This paper explores the problems experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with international ambitions in gaining access to debt and equity finance for foreign direct investment (FDI) projects. We develop several arguments for why such small businesses are expected to face severe financing constraints for foreign investments and provide an explorative empirical study with both the demand and supply side of FDI finance. We have interviewed thirty-two Belgian SMEs that carry out FDI, five banks and five venture capitalists. Based on the SME discussions, we have composed a questionnaire that was sent to the interviewed SMEs. The information problems and lack of collateral that often characterize international investment, the home bias of financiers and the capital gearing method used by banks to evaluate small firms’ foreign projects give rise to financial constraints for SMEs’ FDI projects. The reported finance gap hinders small firms’ (international) development and leads to suboptimal home and FDI host country development.     

The Determinants of the Location of Foreign Direct Investment by Japanese Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Japanese manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have actively undertaken Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Asia since the mid-1980s. FDI contributes to economic growth of the FDI recipient countries, as it brings in not only financial resources for investment but also technologies and managerial know-how, which are important factors for promoting economic growth. Recognizing these benefits of receiving FDI, policy makers in developing countries have formulated various strategies to attract FDI. This paper examines the factors in the host countries that would attract FDI by Japanese SMEs. Our results show the importance of both supply-side and demand-side factors in the recipient countries for attracting FDI by Japanese SMEs. Supply-side factors include abundance of low-wage labor, availability of well-developed infrastructure, and good governance of the host government, while an important demand-side factor is the presence of sizable local market. In addition, Japanese SMEs regard industrial agglomeration, which has a element of both supply and demand factors, as an important factors making FDI decision. Supply-side factors are found to be important for attracting Japanese FDI in developing countries, while demand-factors play a role in attracting Japanese FDI in developed countries. A comparison of the results for SMEs to those for large firms reveals that SMEs are more sensitive to the conditions in the host countries in making their FDI decision. In particular, SMEs regard the availability of low-wage labor, well-developed infrastructure, and industrial agglomeration as important elements much more than large firms. High sensitivity of SMEs to local economic conditions in their decision on FDI location may be explained by their limited availability of financial and human resources and high dependence on overseas production in their business. In light of these findings, we conclude that countries interested in hosting FDI have to provide a very attractive business environment.     

Knowledge and internationalization of returnee entrepreneurial firms

This study aims to answer whether and how returnee entrepreneurs’ international experience and returnee entrepreneurial firms’ international market knowledge influence these firms’ internationalization. Anchored in a framework combining an entrepreneurial and knowledge-based view, we develop a model and four hypotheses on the relations between returnee entrepreneurs’ international experience, international market knowledge, international market commitment, and level of internationalization of the returnee entrepreneurial firm. Empirical evidence of the proposed model is derived from a recent sample of Chinese returnee SMEs in knowledge-intensive and high-technology industries. The main finding is that returnee entrepreneurs’ international experience nurtures international market knowledge of returnee entrepreneurial firms, which in turn has a positive effect on these firms’ international market commitment and level of internationalization. In terms of theory, the study extends our understanding of returnee entrepreneurial firms by uncovering the role of returnee entrepreneurs’ international experience and returnee firms’ international market knowledge during their initial and early international expansion.     

Experience,age and exporting performance in UK SMEs

We consider the determinants of SME exporting performance using a survey of internationally engaged UK SMEs. We first develop a model incorporating organisational and prior managerial learning effects. Our empirical analysis then allows us to identify separately the positive effects on exporting from the international experience of the firm and the negative effects of firm age. Positive exporting effects also result from grafted knowledge – acquired by the recruitment of management with prior international experience. Innovation also has positive exporting effects with more radical new-to-the-industry innovation most strongly linked to inter-regional exports; new-to-the-firm innovation is more strongly linked to intra-regional trade. Early internationalisation is also linked positively to the number of countries to which firms export and the intensity of their export activity. We find no evidence, however, relating early internationalisation to extra-regional exporting, suggesting that early-exporting SMEs tend be ‘born regional’ rather than ‘born global’.     

Managerial characteristics and entrepreneurial internationalization: A study of Tunisian SMEs

Growing internationalization has sparked increasing interest in any factor which could strengthen a firm’s ability to develop a long-term competitive edge. One of the main factors which determine a firm’s international behavior is the characteristics of its management team. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the relationship between the management team’s characteristics and factors which favor a company’s development by examining the causal effects of managerial characteristics on innovative behavior of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking international market expansion. The conceptual model and its hypotheses are tested through an empirical study of a multi-industry sample of Tunisian SMEs. To our knowledge, this present study is the first to include Islamic ethics as a determining factor on managers’ behaviors as their companies enter the international market. Obtained by structural equation modeling technique, the key findings of this research show that personality traits, mental ability, and social networks of managers have a direct impact on a firm’s behavior as it enters the international context. Results also show that Islamic ethics seem to favor a creative context for innovative ideas in both local and foreign markets. Given the importance of the results analyzed, it could be suggested that Islamic ethics in organizations be implemented as a part of the education system in all Islamic societies.     

Foreign direct investment,technological advancement,and absorptive capacity: A network analysis

Technological advancement is an important instrument for economic and technological development, but most countries receive the benefits of innovation and new technologies through technology transfer. Previous studies typically consider direct linkages in order to understand technological advancement without paying much attention to indirect linkages, such as the inter-connectivity of the recipients of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). To understand the relationship between FDI and technological advancement and whether recipients’ absorptive capacity matters, we model global FDI networks for the period 2009–2016. We find empirical evidence that the global FDI network has a core-periphery structure, and that core countries are more technologically developed than peripheral countries. We also find empirical evidence that a country’s centrality of position in the global FDI network is positively associated with the technological advancement of a country, and that the absorptive capacity of a country can moderate this relationship. Regression analyses using instrumental variable estimators confirm the robustness of our findings. The most striking finding of our research is the strong moderation effect of knowledge intensity, a constituent of absorptive capacity. This finding provides a nuanced understanding of absorptive capacity, demonstrating the ways a country can benefit from FDI by reshaping the factors related to absorptive capacity.     

论知识经济条件下FDI的区位选择

随着经济的发展，越来越多的企业纷纷打破国界限制，进行对外直接投资。知识经济时代，以知识、技术资源为代表的生产要素日益重要，给砌的区位选择带来了影响，并通过跨国公司的投资决策表现出来。本文从分析何为知识经济出发，将国际直接投资的区位选择与社会经济形态的发展过程特点相结合，并对FDI区位选择做出策略性建议。     

Strategic agility of SMEs in emerging economies: Antecedents,consequences and boundary conditions

This study investigates the effects of firm-level capabilities, and their relationships with strategic agility and the international performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using time-lagged data from 233 internationalizing SMEs from Ghana, we test the direct relationships between SMEs’ capabilities and strategic agility. Additionally, we examine the indirect relationships between technological and networking capabilities and superior performance in international markets through the mediating mechanism of strategic agility. We also investigate the moderating effects of environmental dynamism and internationalization knowledge on the relationship between strategic agility and international performance. Our findings provide a nuanced view of the relationship between the firm-level capabilities, strategic agility and SMEs’ international performance.     

Linking inward/outward FDI and exploitation/exploration strategies: Development of a framework for SMEs

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between exploitation/exploration strategy and foreign direct investment (FDI) involving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on qualitative data collected from 45 FDI projects reported by 38 SMEs in a small open economy (SMOPEC), we develop an empirically grounded framework and research propositions that suggest inward FDI (into the SME) is associated with exploration driven by a strategic asset-seeking motive, and outward FDI (by the SME) is associated with exploitation driven by market and efficiency-seeking motives. Further, for the SMEs in this study, ambidextrous exploration and exploitation appear complementary and co-occur either simultaneously through an inward FDI project, or sequentially through separate inward and outward FDI projects, respectively. Our findings, however, reveal a lack of clear sequencing between inward and outward FDI, in contrast to previous research that has conceptualised inward FDI as a strategic means to achieve outward FDI. Implications for theory, practice and policy are discussed.     

International network management for the purpose of host market expansion: The mediating effect of co-innovation in the networks of SMEs

Research shows that innovation facilitates internationalization and that the customer network is an important source of technical and market knowledge. Yet, little is known about how co-innovation within a business relationship with a key international customer relates to international network management and international growth beyond the focal business relationship. The paper contributes to international entrepreneurship research by investigating (1) international business relationship learning mechanisms that reinforce co-innovation within a dyadic business relationship with a key customer (2) and the link between co-innovation outcome in the business relationship and international network management for purposes of foreign market expansion beyond the dyadic business relationship. Three hypotheses were developed and tested on a sample of 188 internationalizing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using linear structural relations (LISREL) structural equation modeling. The analysis shows that an SME’s (i) awareness of a customer’s complementary knowledge and (ii) innovation-oriented customer relationships leads to increased co-innovation within a dyadic business relationship with a key customer. Moreover, successful co-innovation with a key customer increases the likelihood that the focal SME will attempt at international network management by drawing on the key customer as a bridge to new customers and suppliers on the foreign host market. The findings provide a link between innovation within a dyadic business relationship and international network management for the purpose of foreign market expansion into the wider network on the host market. The findings hence contribute to our understanding of the mediating role of co-innovation in the internationalization process of SMEs.     

Becoming a small multinational enterprise: Four multinationalization strategies for SMEs

SME multinationalization is an emerging yet underexplored topic in internationalization research. Previous studies have focused on identifying the key features of one ‘ideal’ multinationalization approach but shed less light on the potential alternative approaches that firms can use in different situations. Based on an empirical multiple case study of eight SMEs, this study identifies four alternative multinationalization strategies that SMEs can use (resource seeking, hub reaching, serendipitous resource leveraging, and controlled expansion) and illuminates their specific characteristics. The findings of this study demonstrate that instead of one ‘ideal’ approach, there are multiple strategies that SMEs can adopt for multinationalization and suggest that each strategy is characterized by different FDI goals, timing, organizational structure and value chain activities. Overall, this study contributes to contemporary international business research by advancing theorization on SME multinationalization.     

Do Strategic Motives Affect Ownership Mode of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in Emerging African Markets? Evidence from Ghana

The objective of this study is to examine the influence of ownership, location, and internalization‐specific factors, as well as strategic motives on ownership choice of foreign subsidiaries in Ghana. The authors use a quantitative methodology in order to statistically explore the relationships between dependent and independent variables by using the logistic regression model. The analysis was based on 115 manufacturing investments made by multinational corporations (MNCs) from different countries in 1994–2013. The results indicate that contractual risk leads to the choice of whollymowned subsidiary while cultural distance and country risk lead to the choice of the joint venture. In the case of the motives, efficiency‐seeking and resource‐seeking FDIs lead to the choice of the joint venture. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

基于贸易引力模型的FDI与省区双边贸易流量的实证分析

运用贸易引力模型分析FDI和各省市区国际贸易的关系,对2007年我国30个省市区和26个国家或地区的双边贸易面板数据进行实证研究,结果表明各省市区FDI与国际贸易之间存在互补关系,从三大经济区域来看,东部FDI对国际贸易的弹性最大,其次是中部地区,西部地区最小。基于资源禀赋差异的垂直贸易体制加剧了FDI投资于我国的趋势。各省市区的贸易模式取决于贸易双方的经济规模和地理距离。双边贸易流量的规模与各自的经济总量呈正比,双方的地理距离(运输成本)构成了两地之间贸易的阻力因素,地理位置成为阻碍中部和西部地区国际贸易发展的重要因素。     

Rapid internationalization of traditional SMEs: Between gradualist models and born globals

Within the last 20 years, a number of traditional small-medium enterprises (SMEs) have accelerated their international commitment by investing in distant countries despite limited market knowledge, limited use of networks, and limited international experience of the entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to draw research attention to this phenomenon and to compliment the existing literature on internationalization process of SMEs.We argue that traditional SMEs are able to speed up their internationalization process by, thus, rapidly catching up with the increasing global competition. The peculiar path followed by SMEs is described by analyzing five case firms and explained by contrasting to the leading literature. The empirical evidence suggests that specific strategic focus (as opposed to knowledge-intensity, international network, and international experience) is the determinant success aspect of the change in the internationalization process.