Entrepreneurship capital and its impact on knowledge diffusion and economic performance

In this paper, we develop two hypotheses: First, regional innovation efforts have a positive impact on regional knowledge based entrepreneurial activity. Second, knowledge based entrepreneurship positively affects regional economic performance. We test these hypotheses using county level data from West Germany, employing a structural equation model to analyze the relationships between latent variables. Our empirical analysis provides evidence supporting both hypotheses. In particular, our results suggest that innovation efforts have an indirect effect on economic performance via entrepreneurship. This indirect effect is neglected in existing empirical studies focusing on the direct effect of innovation on economic performance.     

跨国公司在华研究与开发投资区位选择的实证研究

本文选取我国吸引跨国公司研究与开发机构最多的前10位省份或直辖市的横截面数据,对跨国公司在华研究与开发投资区位选择的影响因素做实证分析。研究结果表明,跨国公司在华研究与开发机构的区位分布与区域的劳动力成本、通讯设施水平、市场规模、科技实力以及对知识产权的保护和重视程度等因素呈正相关关系。     

Factors Influencing Growth Potential of E‐Commerce in Emerging Economies: An Institution‐Based N‐OLI Framework and Research Propositions

Given the tremendous success of the Internet and e‐commerce in developed countries, emerging economies are quickly embracing information technology as well. The purpose of this study is to examine factors (both determinants and deterrents) influencing the growth potential of e‐commerce in emerging economies from a multitheoretical perspective (namely, institution‐based network‐ownership, location, and internalization, i.e., i‐based N‐OLI framework). Factors are identified at three levels. At the global level, we identify multilateral agreements, strategic behavior of multinational enterprises (MNEs), and technological innovation as the key factors. At the national level, institutional environment, infrastructure, and culture are identified. The transactional level examines the role of integrity of transactions, online intermediaries, and network externalities and value clustering as the key factors for growth of e‐commerce in emerging economies. Based on the multitheoretical framework, the study advances several propositions and highlights implications for MNEs, both from developed markets and emerging markets, operating in emerging economies. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A curriculum model for IT infrastructure management in undergraduate business schools

As information technology infrastructure becomes strategic to organizations, the author examines business-school programs that educate future infrastructure analysts. Information systems (IS) 2010 and information technology (IT) 2008 curriculum models are used to survey courses required by telecommunications and IT infrastructure programs in business schools. Of 525 Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business–accredited schools, 259 have IS/IT programs and 18 have telecommunications and infrastructure-related programs. IT Infrastructure, Networking-Advanced, and IT Security are the top three infrastructure-related courses. Programs also require courses including IS Project Management; Social and Professional Issues; and IS Strategy, Management and Acquisition. Data collected are used to develop a new curriculum model of IT infrastructure management program that can be offered by business schools.     

Infrastructure Endowment and Corporate Income Taxes as Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Central and Eastern European Countries

This paper analyses the importance of taxes on corporate income and production‐related tangible infrastructure as determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). We operationalise taxes using effective average tax rates on the bilateral level and employ indices derived from principal component analysis as a proxy for the infrastructure endowment. In the empirical analysis we control for a possible interrelation between taxes and infrastructure as determinants of FDI – an issue usually neglected in the literature. Specifically, a favourable infrastructure endowment may compensate for relatively high taxes. Hence, higher taxes may not deter FDI. The results from our panel econometric analysis of bilateral outward FDI flows of seven home countries in eight CEECs for the 1995–2004 period in an augmented gravity model setting show that (i) both taxes and infrastructure play a role in the location decisions made by multinational enterprises; (ii) telecommunication and transport infrastructure are of special significance to FDI; and (iii) the tax‐rate sensitivity of FDI indeed decreases with the level of infrastructure endowment.     

The effects of the governance environment on the choice of investment mode and the strategic implications

Direct investment and indirect (portfolio) investment require different governance mechanisms for investor protection. The literature on the effect of the governance environment (such as the legal system) on investment, which had been relatively underdeveloped, has begun to draw more attention recently. Existing studies, however, have largely ignored the differences between the two modes of investment in terms of investor protection. Their finding that a poor governance environment deters foreign direct investment is mis-specified and fails to explain why countries with a poor governance environment attract relatively large amount of direct investment as opposed to portfolio investment.We introduce a framework that measures the level of rule-based governance environment in a capital receiving economy, with an especial attention to the information and enforcement mechanisms for investor protection facilitated by different governance environments. We argue that in countries with a weak rule-based governance environment, investors prefer direct investment to indirect (portfolio) investment, because the former can be better protected by private means. Our empirical test strongly supports our hypotheses. Strategic implications for investors are drawn in conclusion.     

Efficiency‐Seeking Emerging Market Firms: Resources and Location Choices

We study the efficiency‐seeking location choices of Indian software firms. In particular, we investigate the influence of heterogeneity in their resources on their location choices. The resource‐based view posits that firms face difficulties in transferring their resources in dissimilar host‐country environments. Prior research has investigated this phenomenon primarily for market‐seeking motives of multinational firms. With the help of hierarchical linear modeling, we analyze 650 location choices of Indian software firms and find that efficiency‐seeking firms face difficulties in locating in host countries with dissimilar and challenging labor environments. We find that the firms with core competence manifested through capability maturity model integration (CMMI) accreditation are able to overcome issues related to resource fungibility in dissimilar host‐country environments. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The volatility effect of diaspora's location

Remittances can transmit volatility from host to home countries for some common patterns of diaspora's geographical distribution. In a migration portfolio model, the overall risk of volatility of any set of diaspora location is decomposed into a contagion and a concentration risks: a diaspora located in more volatile destinations induces a higher contagion risk, while a diaspora located in few destination countries increases the concentration risk. A series of estimations on a large panel of developing countries over 1995–2015 provide evidence for these two risks. Estimation of a structural model confirms that the geography of diaspora has an indirect impact on the origin country's aggregate instability through remittances.     

外商直接投资区位选择动态演变 ——基于城市数据的经验分析

借助京津冀、长三角和珠三角三大经济圈的城市层面数据,本文研究了外资区位选择因素的动态演变规律。研究发现,早期阶段,优惠的引资政策、低廉的劳动力成本、市场规模对于三大经济圈吸收FDI都有决定作用。近年来,政策的优惠已经不是决定这三大经济圈吸收外资的主要因素,集聚效应和基础设施,尤其是邮电通讯设施的作用更为重要。但是,用地成本过高都不同程度地抑制了三大经济圈外资流入。研究还发现:长三角和京津冀地区外资由劳动密集型逐渐向知识、技术密集型转变,但是珠三角地区依旧是劳动密集型外资占主导。     

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.     

German Investment in Ireland and in the Central and East European Countries

The accession of Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to the EU is expected by many to lead to the diversion of foreign direct investment towards the CEECs and away from other EU countries. The following paper focuses on the investigation of the internationalisation strategies and location choices of German multinational corporations (MNCs) in manufacturing against the background of growing regional economic integration, and particularly the fifth EU enlargement. It draws on the findings of a case study and interview results covering three German MNCs and their location choices for investment in both Ireland and the new EU member countries from Eastern Europe. This research project has been co-funded by the RIA in Dublin and DAAD. A first version of this work was presented at the September 2005 Irish Academy of Management Annual Conference in Galway.     

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.     

Multinational corporate website strategies and influencing factors: A comparison of US and Korean corporate websites

This study, using a content analysis method, explored whether and to what extent multinational corporate websites targeting different markets are standardized. It also tested three organizational factors – country of origin, company size, and product type – for their potential influence on the level of corporate website standardization. A sample of 52 top US-based multinational companies and 52 Korea-based multinational companies was drawn and a total of 104 pairs of websites for these companies were content-analyzed. Overall, the degree of website standardization was not significantly different between companies based in the two countries. The results suggest that both US and Korean multinational corporations tend to maintain their websites in a similar way when targeting the home and foreign markets. Among the three organizational factors, only product type – B2B versus B2C products and durables versus non-durables – was found to be significantly associated with the level of website standardization. This study makes important contributions to the research literature by offering new information on the current state of multinational corporate website strategies and advancing our knowledge about international marketing communications on the Internet and influencing factors.     

Effects of Adverse Selection on a Multinational Firm’s Decision on where to Subcontract

This paper analyses the effects of adverse selection on a multinational firm’s decision on where to subcontract. Adverse selection arises since subcontractor firms have more information than the multinational concerning their production costs. The results obtained show that adverse selection confers to subcontractor firms an advantage in their relationship with the multinational, inducing the multinational to subcontract in more than one country. In this way, adverse selection modelling outcomes justify, and are coherent with, the empirical evidence such as, the diversity of countries that multinational firms subcontract and the fast production relocation between countries.      

Public education in developing countries: Cost-effectiveness of education policies and endowments growth

The article analyses the general equilibrium effects of education as a user and producer of resources considering some features of the sector typical in developing countries, such as the presence of inefficiencies, in a model that nevertheless remains close to the Heckscher–Ohlin paradigm. Short- and long-term effects of education are considered and it is shown that the overall effects are linked to the efficiency with which endowments are produced. The analysis has implications for policymakers in developing countries with failing educational systems, as it suggests a relation between cost-effectiveness of policies and growth and not between enrolments and growth or between public expenditure in education and growth as it is usually tested in growth regressions.     

Real options and the theory of foreign direct investment

We extend applications of real options theory to foreign direct investment (FDI) research regarding choice of location and choice of market entry mode under uncertainty. Our study is motivated by the regional configuration of multinational enterprises (MNEs), as well as observed deviations from the stages model in internationalization theory. We shed light on these issues using real option modeling and computer simulations. The results suggest that from the standpoint of pursuing business opportunities and generating real options, building a subsidiary in a nonhome region could be more beneficial than in a home region. However, high option exercise cost may reduce the option value of a nonhome-region location. Our models also imply that choice of entry mode depends on the magnitude (high vs. low) and the type (exogenous vs. endogenous) of uncertainty. When uncertainty is high and endogenous, MNEs may prefer high-commitment entry modes because they contribute to the reduction of uncertainty and provide valuable growth options.     

Foreign direct investment in the banking sector: the case of Italian banks in the '90s

The present paper addresses the issue of the determinants of the growth of multinational banks upon foreign markets at a micro individual level. Theories and approaches suggested so far about globalisation of the banking sector basically relate banks' international growth to the theory of the multinational enterprise. Accordingly, this paper relies on the eclectic paradigm, which views the foreign direct investment decision to be a combination of ownership, internalisation and location advantages. Empirical evidence is provided through an econometric model based on count data techniques, with reference to the Italian case in the decade 1989–1999. Results show that the availability of resources and international experience already gathered by the parent banks have positive effects on their decision to undertake direct investments abroad. Multinational banks are also proved to grow internationally in order to internalise their pre-existing bank–client relationships, and to locate their foreign units where they can exploit positive externalities related to the presence of important international financial centres.     

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.     

Gravity,education, and economic development in a multinational affiliate location

This paper investigates the relationship between education and the location of multinational affiliates. It finds that US multinationals seek production locations with high levels of education rather than with uneducated labour. Furthermore, the education effect can be separated from the effects of overall economic development. Based on these results, the paper suggests why previous results regarding education and multinational affiliate location have been mixed. Using a gravity equation framework, the analysis also introduces a methodological innovation by including numerous economies that receive no investment. The expanded data set reveals that about two-thirds of the variation in multinational location can be explained by the standard gravity variables of host country size, transport costs, distance from the investing country, and host country remoteness. Furthermore, the elasticities are higher than those resulting from the analysis of the more restricted country samples used in nearly all research on multinationals. This suggests that previous research might have missed or underestimated relationships and may not be useful in understanding why some countries receive little or no multinational investment.     

On the choice of in-house production versus outsourcing by multinationals

Abstract

The global economy is becoming more integrated with the increase in international fragmentation. This paper examines two forms of global production networks in a general equilibrium framework by building on the ‘knowledge-capital model.’ The focus is the relationship between country characteristics and the multinational firm's choice either to allocate the labor-intensive processing stage in-house to its foreign affiliates or to outsource the activity to outside contractors at arm's-length. Chinese data on the export processing trade are used to test the theory. The findings show that multinational firms with their headquarters in highly skilled-labor-abundant countries of intermediate size have a preference for outsourcing. By contrast, skilled-labor-abundant countries of small size are homes to multinational firms with subsidiary production in the host country where unskilled labor is cheap.