Do Foreign Firms in China Incur a Liability of Foreignness? The Local Chinese Firms’ Perspective

Liability of foreignness (LOF) has been one of the building blocks of multinational enterprise theory development, but we have limited knowledge about the liability of foreignness in the context of multinationals operating in developing countries. This study suggests that in a developing country like China, foreignness may still exist, but its negative impact on foreign firms’ performance may have become insignificant. Local Chinese firms were found to enjoy significant location‐based advantages over their foreign counterparts, contributing to liability of foreignness. However, the adverse effects of liability of foreignness on foreign firms appear to be offset by the foreign firms’ superior firm‐specific and multinationality advantages over local Chinese firms. Further, the location‐based advantages that foreign firms have built up over time further serve to strengthen their overall competitive position in China. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Contraction under minimum wages? Operational and financial advantages of multinational subsidiaries in China

The advantages of multinational enterprises (MNEs) over domestic firms have been widely acknowledged in several streams of literature. However, a more refined analysis on the sources of their advantages is lacking. Exploiting minimum wage hikes in China as an exogenous shock, we theorize that, due to multinational advantages, the employment of multinational subsidiaries may be less affected by minimum wages than that of domestic firms, and that their multinational advantages arise from both operational and financial advantages. Using nation-wide longitudinal firm data from 1998 to 2007 and border discontinuity design (BDD) to estimate the causal effects, we find supportive evidence for our hypotheses. We contribute to the literature on multinational advantages and minimum wages.     

Domestic firms competing with multinational enterprises: The relevance of resource-accessing alliance formations

The literature includes several papers that compare multinational enterprises (MNEs) to local firms along several dimensions such as financial strength or production capacity. Nevertheless, the focus on how latter firms compete against the former is often missing in the literature; local firms are typically seen as inferior in terms of resources and thus, unable to compete against MNEs. This paper aims at revisiting this competitive ‘battle’. Through a case-based design in a ‘multinational’ domestic market that seems to favour MNEs, we explore how local firms respond to MNEs’ purported superiority. Findings indicate that local firms respond through alliance formations that enable them to access fitting resources and counter ownership advantages of MNEs. Therefore, resource-accessing strategies spearheaded by local firms suggest that ownership advantages should not be inherently translated into competitive advantages for the MNEs. Implications for international business are discussed and avenues for further research are suggested.     

How do firms evolve? The patterns of technological evolution of semiconductor subsidiaries

This study draws on concepts from international strategy and evolutionary economics to investigate the development of innovative ability within multinational subsidiaries. The paper develops hypotheses regarding the evolution of subsidiary innovative abilities, and the changes across time of their knowledge sourcing and sharing patterns with other parts of the multinational enterprise and host country firms.The paper analyzes patent data pertaining to foreign subsidiaries of US semiconductor firms and finds support for subsidiary technological development—there are positive changes in the scale and scope of innovative activity across time. The results also suggest that subsidiaries are increasingly embedded in host country knowledge networks—as they mature, subsidiaries increasingly learn and share knowledge locally. Evidence of increasing integration with other firms within the multinational enterprise is weaker.     

MNE liability of foreignness versus local firm-specific advantages: The case of the Chinese management software industry

The theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) suggests that the subsidiaries of MNEs possess firm-specific advantages (FSAs) that can overcome their liability of foreignness (LOF). It also suggests that subsidiaries can gradually decrease their LOF over time as they learn more about the host country environment and develop better connections to local business networks. Accordingly, subsidiaries should outperform local firms not only at point of entry but also (and increasingly so) in the long run as LOF decreases. This paper challenges this received wisdom by using case-study methodology to argue that LOF may not decrease over time and, meanwhile, the FSA gap between local firms and subsidiaries may narrow. We focus on two types of FSAs (asset and transaction ownership) and three sources of LOF (complexity, uncertainty, and discrimination) to develop a theoretical framework for analysing the dynamic relationships between LOF and FSAs and show how local firms can outperform foreign subsidiaries over time. We use the case of the Chinese management software industry to illustrate the framework. Our findings have important implications for MNEs competing abroad as well as helping to explain the emergence of strong competition from local firms.     

A closer look at the productivity advantage of foreign affiliates

In analyzing firm productivity in Belgium, this article shows empirically that both scale and efficiency contribute positively to the typical productivity advantage of foreign affiliates. Stochastic production frontier estimation using the translog functional form indicates that foreign subsidiaries exploit economies of scale more fully and benefit from better (transferred) technological capabilities than Belgian national firms (i.e., Belgian owned firms without subsidiaries abroad). Belgian multinational enterprises (MNEs), i.e., Belgian owned firms with at least one subsidiary abroad, resemble foreign‐based MNEs in possessing specific technological advantages. While the increasing globalization has facilitated the realization of scale effects across borders, this article shows that the development of technological capabilities/advantages is still a prerequisite for MNEs to compete successfully abroad.     

Do indigenous firms incur a liability of localness when operating in their home market? The case of China

Liability of foreignness has been one of the building blocks of theories of multinational enterprises. This paper looks at a parallel issue – the liability of localness that local firms may face as a result of foreign firms’ presence in their country. The results show that local Chinese firms enjoy location-based advantages over their foreign counterparts and these, together with their firm-specific advantages, have significant positive effects on their performance. The superior firm-specific advantages of foreign firms appear to erase the magnitude of such effects and create a significant negative impact on local Chinese firms’ performance, and this effect is heightened by foreign firms’ multinationality advantages. The research suggests that local Chinese firms incur a liability of localness, and the extent of the negative impact of such liability on local firm performance is largely dependent on the relative strength of various advantages that the local and foreign firms possess.     

Industrial clusters, transactions costs and the institutional determinants of MNE location behaviour

This paper discusses the institutional and organizational assumptions underlying many of the currently popular notions of industrial clustering. By adopting a transactions costs perspective, we explain that there are three fundamentally different types of industrial cluster. We then discuss how the institutional differences between each of these clusters provide different possibilities for the location behaviour of the multiplant or multinational firm. Using two examples from the global semiconductor industry, we show that observations of industrial clusters must be interpreted very carefully when we are discussing multinational firms. The reason for this is that many simple clustering notions are predicated on assumptions which are often incompatible with multinational firms. The potential advantages of industrial clustering can only be understood when location strategies are considered with respect to the organizational and institutional logic of both the firm and the cluster.     

Do Chinese firms benefit from government ownership following cross-border acquisitions?

Chinese firms’ increasing cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) in recent years seem to challenge the explanatory power of received theories of multinational enterprise (MNE) due to their relatively unique characteristics and the active role of the Chinese government. In this study, we seek to revisit and contextualize the OLI paradigm in conjunction with the institution-based view and examine how Chinese firms’ post-CBA long term performance is associated with government ownership. Our study shows that Chinese firms with more government ownership demonstrate better post-CBA long term performance. However, the above relationship is differentially moderated by such firm-level boundary conditions as political connections and financial slack, and the country-level institutional boundary conditions (i.e., the host country formal institutions and the home-host country cultural distance). We discuss our findings in detail and explore theoretical and practical implications for both Chinese firms and other emerging economy (EE) firms.     

Do Swedish multinationals pay less in taxes than domestic firms?

In recent years, there has been growing concern that multinational enterprises (MNE s) engage in strategic tax planning in order to shift profits to low‐tax jurisdictions. This common perception is generally confirmed by empirical evidence, which is foremost provided for countries with high corporate taxes and relatively complex tax systems. We investigate whether multinational firms in a country with a comparatively more competitive tax system undertake profit shifting. We do this using detailed census data from corporate income statements and balance sheets filed by Swedish manufacturing firms between 1997 and 2007. We detect profit shifting by comparing MNE s with (purely) domestic firms. In particular, we identify systematic differences in tax payments, earnings (before interest and taxes) and equity ratios between multinational and comparable domestic firms based on propensity score matching. In addition, we examine the tax behavioural impact of acquiring multinational status using difference‐in‐differences estimations and/or propensity score matching. Our results reveal that the extent to which multinational firms have lower tax payments than their domestic counterparts depends on their production characteristics and foreign market outreach. In particular, we find evidence indicating that firms operating in few foreign markets and firms that become multinational engage in profit shifting from Sweden.     

Multinational risk and performance outcomes: Effects of knowledge intensity and industry context

A multinational presence can diversify corporate business activities and provide access to diverse overseas resources. This can enhance operational flexibility and create new business propositions that increase responsiveness to global market changes. Establishing an international corporate structure may also require irreversible investments and impose maintenance and processing costs that contravene the implied resilience and agility benefits. We distinguish between downside risk and upside potential as the relevant outcome measures to assess the implied advantages of multinationality. Consistent with the rationales of the OLI paradigm, we argue that multinational reach particularly in knowledge-based industries can reduce downside risk and enhance upside potential. These results introduce more nuances to the ongoing debate about multinational risk and performance effects. Based on a large cross-sectional dataset, we find that flexibility and responsiveness thrives on a multinational presence among firms operating in information-driven knowledge businesses. In contrast, internationalizing firms in capital-based network services display adverse risk effects.     

Explaining employment changes in foreign manufacturing investment in the UK

This article tests the view that the impact which foreign direct investment (FDI) has upon employment within the host economy will vary according to the entry mode which the multinational enterprise (MNE) chooses, the type of subsidiary and the nationality of the parent organisation which is established in the regional economy. Data were collected from the subsidiaries of foreign-owned firms in the UK. A model was devised and tested with estimations using this data. The results provide support for the view that the impact of FDI may be differentiated by entry mode, nationality and subsidiary type. Specifically, firms which entered by way of greenfield investment created positive employment effects as compared to those which entered by means of a merger or acquisition where the effects were relatively negative. There is some evidence that impact is also ownership specific. Finally, those subsidiaries which performed more value-added functions had a positive effect on employment.     

Some Features of the Early Merger Movements in British Manufacturing Industry

This paper argues that a number of non-conventional types of foreign direct investments – such as free-standing firms – that fit awkwardly in models where multinational firms arise to exploit abroad their firm-specific advantages, can be explained by looking at the role of these institutions in the international transfer of financial capital. The paper develops a theory to explain why a particular form of transfer will be used based on the choice between price and hierarchical transfer on one hand, and intermediated versus non-intermediated transfer on the other. Hierarchical transfer (equity) will be favoured when transaction costs in the market for investible funds are high. Intermediation will take place when there is considerable asymmetry between savers and investors. Non-intermediated equity transfers (free-standing firms) will arise to finance projects offering no collateral (hence equity) but of low scale and known technology (hence non-intermediated).     

Corporate ownership and the theory of the multinational enterprise

This paper makes a contribution to the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and, in particular, to why firms undertake foreign direct investment (FDI) rather than alternative strategies. We argue that FDI and its strategic alternatives involve different patterns of costs and returns over time, and hence different levels of risk and uncertainty. Traditional theories of the MNE conceptualize the firm as a risk-neutral decision-making entity with short-term efficiency objectives, and hence do not take these issues into account. This may be reasonable for firms with passive professional managers and widely-dispersed shareholders, operating in countries with the Anglo-American system of corporate governance. But many firms operate under quite different systems of corporate governance where concentrated shareholdings are commonplace and markets for corporate control are weak or non-existent. In these cases, shareholders exert considerable influence on all aspects of firm strategy including FDI. Furthermore, different groups of shareholders (State, family, institutions) are likely to have different objectives, different attitudes towards risk, and different decision-making time horizons. We thus suggest that the traditional theories of the MNE need to be extended to embrace consideration of corporate ownership (and other governance dimensions).     

The bargaining relationship between foreign mnes and host governments in latin america

The relationship between international firms and national governments can usefully be understood in terms of bargaining theory. This article develops an explicit model of the bargaining relationship, using the level of regulation as a measure of bargaining power. The model is tested with data from a survey of multinational enterprise subsidiaries in seven Latin American countries. The evidence supports hypotheses that (1) firms are less regulated when they are technology-intensive, when they operate larger scale affiliates, and when they export more from the local affiliate; and (2) firms are more regulated when they operate in larger countries and when they have a larger local market share. These findings demonstrate the importance of the government—business relationship as a multidimensional process and offer support for the explicit framework employed here.     

Glass Houses? Market Reactions to Firms Joining the UN Global Compact

We examine market reactions to publicly held multinational firms announcing their affiliation with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The UNGC is a voluntary initiative to support four areas of United Nations viz. Human Rights, Labor, Environmental, and Anti-Corruption. Because firms must file annual Communication on Progress (COP) reports toward these initiatives, we argue this creates a differentiating transparency of interest to stakeholders. Using a sample of 175 global firms, we find support to the theory for joining the UNGC. Returns differ markedly, however, between multinational firms headquartered in the United States (negative) and Europe (positive). We also find that failing to complete the annual COP generates a negative market reaction.     

International market selection and subsidiary performance: A neural network approach

How should multinational enterprises (MNEs) select international markets? We develop a model of international market selection that adds firm-specific advantages and transaction cost considerations to previously explored target market factors based on Dunning's Eclectic Framework. Results obtained using neural network (NN) analysis indicates that our model has strong predictive power in explaining international market selection. Further tests show that firms selecting international markets predicted by the model reported significantly higher subsidiary performance relative to firms whose investments were not predicted by the model. Our results provide strong initial evidence that a firm-level strategic approach to international market selection facilitates MNE success.     

Adjustment strategies of multinational enterprises to changing national competitiveness

This article establishes a link between four combinations of relative firm‐specific advantages and comparative advantage and the adjustment strategies of multinational firms. Based on the distribution of firms across advantage combinations, hypotheses on four adjustment strategies are developed: expansion, rationalization, exit and relocation. Upon a detailed analysis of a representative sample of manufacturing firms for 1990–2000, a consistent competitiveness ranking of domestic and foreign firms across industries and over time is derived. The strategies followed by the firms are reflected by the development of employment, value‐added and exports. Results show that firms are not distributed entirely in line with comparative advantage, but the dynamic interaction (“match”) of location‐advantage and firm‐specific advantage seems to be decisive. Results also confirm that domestic and foreign firms partly react differently under a given advantage combination. The following principles for location policies are suggested: the empirically measured mismatch of firm capabilities and location advantages determine when direct and indirect measures should be used. The intensity of policy measures should be oriented towards the competitiveness ranking derived.     

The right tree for the right bird: Location choice decision of Taiwanese firms’ FDI in China and Vietnam

Firms have to invest in foreign markets to maintain their competitive advantage, but a popular location for foreign direct investment (FDI) may not be suitable for everyone. Available literature as to location choice is mainly based on developed countries and large multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, this study investigates the location choice behaviour of firms originating in newly industrialized economies (Taiwanese firms) investing in emerging countries (China and Vietnam). According to the national economic development of China (further divided into South China and East China) and Vietnam, we divide the location into more developed and less developed regions. Through an empirical firm-level data collection and conditional logit analysis, this study found that: (1) firms with stronger ownership advantages prefer to invest in more developed than less developed regions; (2) firms occupying favourable positions in their network prefer to invest in more developed than less developed regions; (3) firms with a high degree of networking prefer to invest in less developed than more developed regions; (4) firms choose to invest in more developed than less developed regions to gain access to a large market; and (5) firms with strong resource-seeking motives prefer to invest in more developed than less developed regions to access their resources.     

Who Invests in the Least Developed Countries?

Abstract

Africa is a giant market with a population of Europe and Japan combined, and highly diversified with respect to culture, natural resources, economic development, and political regimes. Yet, the continent is largely ignored with respect to research on the multinational activities of U.S. firms. In this paper, we provide the first evidence regarding the operating characteristics of U.S. firms that operate in Africa. We find that firms with operations in Africa are larger, more diversified, and more profitable than a matched control sample of multinational firms. This paper also shows that technology firms, manufacturing firms, and mining firms dominate the rest of companies operating in Africa. Certain geographical regions in Africa also seem to attract more companies than others, with Southern Africa being the most preferred region, while Central Africa is the least preferred. Finally, when a multinational firm invests in a specific country in Africa, it tends to do so in several business sectors.