IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v34y2015icp274-292.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm heterogeneity and location choice of Chinese firms in Latin America and the Caribbean: Corporate ownership, strategic motives and host country institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Lin, Yue

Abstract

China's ODI in Latin America and the Caribbean is entering into the second phase with diversification of economic actors and industries of investment. This paper extracts the approved projects by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce from its online database between 2003–2012, and fits a random effect negative binomial regression model. Our statistical estimates on the one hand confirm some of the previous findings on the disparity between Chinese public and private investors in their ODI motivations and perception of risks, on the other hand find that host country institutions are not purely ownership specific, but also contingent on industries and activities in which firms tend to invest. The direction of institutional effect is not consistent across sectors and firm types. The revealed complexity of China's ODI in Latin America and the Caribbean suggests a multi-level framework in further research, which treats Chinese transnational firms as endogenously heterogeneous beyond the dichotomous categorisation according to corporate ownership.

Suggested Citation

  • Lin, Yue, 2015. "Firm heterogeneity and location choice of Chinese firms in Latin America and the Caribbean: Corporate ownership, strategic motives and host country institutions," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 274-292.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:34:y:2015:i:c:p:274-292
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2015.03.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X15000310
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2015.03.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brunnschweiler, Christa N. & Bulte, Erwin H., 2008. "The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 248-264, May.
    2. Cameron,A. Colin & Trivedi,Pravin K., 2013. "Regression Analysis of Count Data," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107667273, January.
    3. Erdener, Carolyn & Shapiro, Daniel M., 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Family Enterprises and Dunning's Eclectic MNE Paradigm," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 411-436, November.
    4. Rob Tulder, 2010. "Toward a Renewed Stages Theory for BRIC Multinational Enterprises? A Home Country Bargaining Approach," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Karl P. Sauvant & Geraldine McAllister & Wolfgang A. Maschek (ed.), Foreign Direct Investments from Emerging Markets, chapter 0, pages 61-74, Palgrave Macmillan.
    5. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Institutions and the Resource Curse," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(508), pages 1-20, January.
    6. Yiping Huang & Bijun Wang, 2011. "Chinese Outward Direct Investment: Is There a China Model?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 19(4), pages 1-21, July.
    7. Mesquita Moreira, Mauricio, 2007. "Fear of China: Is There a Future for Manufacturing in Latin America?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 355-376, March.
    8. Kolstad, Ivar & Wiig, Arne, 2009. "It's the rents, stupid! The political economy of the resource curse," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5317-5325, December.
    9. Luo, Yadong & Xue, Qiuzhi & Han, Binjie, 2010. "How emerging market governments promote outward FDI: Experience from China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 68-79, January.
    10. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Lien, Donald, 2011. "Democracy, foreign direct investment and natural resources," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 99-111, May.
    11. Yin‐Wong Cheung & Xingwang Qian, 2009. "Empirics Of China'S Outward Direct Investment," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 312-341, August.
    12. Clague, Christopher & Keefer, Philip & Knack, Stephen & Olson, Mancur, 1996. "Property and Contract Rights in Autocracies and Democracies," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 243-276, June.
    13. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1995. "Institutions And Economic Performance: Cross‐Country Tests Using Alternative Institutional Measures," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 207-227, November.
    14. Wim Naudé, 2009. "'Rushing in where Angels Fear to Tread?': The Early Internationalization of Indigenous Chinese Firms," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-27, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Daniel Lederman & Taye Mengistae & Lixin Colin Xu, 2013. "Microeconomic consequences and macroeconomic causes of foreign direct investment in southern African economies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(25), pages 3637-3649, September.
    16. Douglass C. North, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter.
    17. Luke Hurst, 2011. "Comparative Analysis of the Determinants of China's State‐owned Outward Direct Investment in OECD and Non‐OECD Countries," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 19(4), pages 74-91, July.
    18. Jenkins, Rhys & Peters, Enrique Dussel & Moreira, Mauricio Mesquita, 2008. "The Impact of China on Latin America and the Caribbean," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 235-253, February.
    19. Oliver E. Williamson, 2000. "The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 595-613, September.
    20. Knack, Stephen & Keefer, Philip, 1995. "Institutions and Economic Performance: Cross-Country Tests Using Alternative Institutional Indicators," MPRA Paper 23118, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. -, 2013. "Chinese foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean: China-Latin America cross-council taskforce. Working document," Libros y Documentos Institucionales, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 35927 edited by Eclac.
    22. Ligang Song & Jidong Yang & Yongsheng Zhang, 2011. "State‐owned Enterprises' Outward Investment and the Structural Reform in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 19(4), pages 38-53, July.
    23. May Hongmei Gao, 2009. "Natural Resources: Government Support for Chinese Companies’ Global Hunt," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Ilan Alon & Julian Chang & Marc Fetscherin & Christoph Lattemann & John R. McIntyre (ed.), China Rules, chapter 9, pages 233-252, Palgrave Macmillan.
    24. Max Boisot & Marshall W. Meyer, 2008. "Which Way through the Open Door? Reflections on the Internationalization of Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 4(3), pages 349-365, November.
    25. Boisot, Max & Meyer, Marshall W., 2008. "Which Way through the Open Door? Reflections on the Internationalization of Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 349-365, November.
    26. Dylan Sutherland & Lutao Ning, 2011. "Exploring 'onward-journey' ODI strategies in China's private sector businesses," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 43-65.
    27. Leonard K. Cheng & Zihui Ma, 2010. "China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment," NBER Chapters, in: China's Growing Role in World Trade, pages 545-578, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Liou, Chih-shian, 2014. "Rent-seeking at Home, Capturing Market Share Abroad: The Domestic Determinants of the Transnationalization of China State Construction Engineering Corporation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 220-231.
    29. John Child & Suzana B. Rodrigues, 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?," Management and Organization Review, International Association of Chinese Management Research, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    30. Peter J Buckley & L Jeremy Clegg & Adam R Cross & Xin Liu & Hinrich Voss & Ping Zheng, 2007. "The determinants of Chinese outward foreign direct investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 499-518, July.
    31. Torvik, Ragnar, 2002. "Natural resources, rent seeking and welfare," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 455-470, April.
    32. -, 2011. "Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2010," La Inversión Extranjera Directa en América Latina y el Caribe, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 1142 edited by Eclac, September.
    33. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2007. "The worldwide governance indicators project : answering the critics," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4149, The World Bank.
    34. Hong Song, 2011. "Chinese Private Direct Investment and Overseas Chinese Network in Africa," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 19(4), pages 109-126, July.
    35. Liu, Xiaming & Xiao, Wen & Huang, Xianhai, 2008. "Bounded entrepreneurship and internationalisation of indigenous Chinese private-owned firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 488-508, August.
    36. Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra & Mehmet Genc, 2008. "Transforming disadvantages into advantages: developing-country MNEs in the least developed countries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(6), pages 957-979, September.
    37. Dunning, John H, 1973. "The Determinants of International Production," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 289-336, November.
    38. Marco Sanfilippo, 2010. "Chinese FDI to Africa: What Is the Nexus with Foreign Economic Cooperation?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 22(S1), pages 599-614.
    39. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2010. "The worldwide governance indicators : methodology and analytical issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5430, The World Bank.
    40. Peter J. Buckley & Adam R. Cross & Hui Tan & Liu Xin & Hinrich Voss, 2008. "Historic and Emergent Trends in Chinese Outward Direct Investment," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 715-748, December.
    41. John H Dunning, 1980. "Towards an Eclectic Theory of International Production: Some Empirical Tests," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 11(1), pages 9-31, March.
    42. Shen, Xiaofang, 2013. "Private Chinese investment in Africa : myths and realities," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6311, The World Bank.
    43. Huang,Yasheng, 2008. "Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521898102.
    44. Child, John & Rodrigues, Suzana B., 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?1," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    45. Chakrabarti, Avik, 2001. "The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment: Sensitivity Analyses of Cross-Country Regressions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 89-113.
    46. Charles P. Oman & Christiane Arndt, 2006. "Governance Indicators for Development," OECD Development Centre Policy Insights 33, OECD Publishing.
    47. Ivar Kolstad & Arne Wiig, 2009. "What determines Chinese outward FDI?," CMI Working Papers 3, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    48. Hinrich Voss & Peter J. Buckley & Adam R. Cross, 2009. "An Assessment of the Effects of Institutional Change on Chinese Outward Direct Investment Activity," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Ilan Alon & Julian Chang & Marc Fetscherin & Christoph Lattemann & John R. McIntyre (ed.), China Rules, chapter 5, pages 135-165, Palgrave Macmillan.
    49. Amighini, Alessia A. & Rabellotti, Roberta & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2013. "Do Chinese state-owned and private enterprises differ in their internationalization strategies?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 312-325.
    50. Avik Chakrabarti, 2001. "The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investments: Sensitivity Analyses of Cross‐Country Regressions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 89-114, February.
    51. Carolyn Erdener & Daniel M. Shapiro, 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Family Enterprises and Dunning's Eclectic MNE Paradigm," Management and Organization Review, International Association of Chinese Management Research, vol. 1(3), pages 411-436, November.
    52. repec:idb:brikps:9167 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sheng Ma & Xinxin Xu & Ziqiang Zeng & Lin Wang, 2020. "Chinese Industrial Outward FDI Location Choice in ASEAN Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Amar Anwar & Ichiro Iwasaki, 2022. "Institutions and FDI from BRICS countries: a meta-analytic review," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 417-468, July.
    3. Ilan Alon & John Anderson & Ziaul Haque Munim & Alice Ho, 2018. "A review of the internationalization of Chinese enterprises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 573-605, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Amighini, Alessia A. & Rabellotti, Roberta & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2013. "Do Chinese state-owned and private enterprises differ in their internationalization strategies?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 312-325.
    2. Ilan Alon & John Anderson & Ziaul Haque Munim & Alice Ho, 2018. "A review of the internationalization of Chinese enterprises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 573-605, September.
    3. Fon, Roger & Alon, Ilan, 2022. "Governance, foreign aid, and Chinese foreign direct investment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113678, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Wei, Yingqi & Zheng, Nan & Liu, Xiaohui & Lu, Jiangyong, 2014. "Expanding to outward foreign direct investment or not? A multi-dimensional analysis of entry mode transformation of Chinese private exporting firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 356-370.
    5. Nádia Campos Pereira Bruhn & Juciara Nunes de Alcântara & Dany Flávio Tonelli & Ricardo Pereira Reis & Luiz Marcelo Antonialli, 2016. "Why Firms Invest Abroad? A Bibliometric Study on OFDI Determinants from Developing Economies," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 17(2), pages 271-302, April.
    6. Zhang, Xiaoxi & Daly, Kevin, 2011. "The determinants of China's outward foreign direct investment," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 389-398.
    7. Bas Karreman & Martijn J. Burger & Frank G. van Oort, 2017. "Location Choices of Chinese Multinationals in Europe: The Role of Overseas Communities," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(2), pages 131-161, March.
    8. Olawoyin Gregory Adedigba & Runhui Lin & Nizam Ud Din, 2020. "The degree of internationalization of Chinese Multinationals along the belt and road initiative countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, July.
    9. Luo, Limin & Qi, Zhen & Hubbard, Paul, 2017. "Not looking for trouble: Understanding large-scale Chinese overseas investment by sector and ownership," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 142-164.
    10. Vukicevic, Jelena & Fallon, Grahame & Ott, Ursula F., 2021. "A theoretical and empirical investigation into investment activities of technologically-intensive Chinese state-owned enterprises in the UK," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1).
    11. Akhtaruzzaman, Muhammad & Berg, Nathan & Lien, Donald, 2017. "Confucius Institutes and FDI flows from China to Africa," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 241-252.
    12. Alessia Amighini & Claudio Cozza & Elisa Giuliani & Roberta Rabellotti & Vittoria Scalera, 2015. "Multinational enterprises from emerging economies: what theories suggest, what evidence shows. A literature review," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(3), pages 343-370, September.
    13. Rekha Rao-Nicholson & Catherine Cai, 2020. "The effects of ownership identity on corporate diversification strategy of Chinese companies in foreign markets," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 91-126, March.
    14. Xie, En & Reddy, K.S. & Liang, Jie, 2017. "Country-specific determinants of cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A comprehensive review and future research directions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 127-183.
    15. Curran, Louise & Lv, Ping & Spigarelli, Francesca, 2017. "Chinese investment in the EU renewable energy sector: Motives, synergies and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 670-682.
    16. Weilei (Stone) Shi & Sunny Li Sun & Daying Yan & Zhu Zhu, 2017. "Institutional fragility and outward foreign direct investment from China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(4), pages 452-476, May.
    17. Yin, Tong & De Propris, Lisa & Jabbour, Liza, 2021. "Assessing the effects of policies on China’s outward foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5).
    18. Dirk Holtbrügge & Sue Claire Berning, 2018. "Market Entry Strategies and Performance of Chinese Firms in Germany: The Moderating Effect of Home Government Support," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 147-170, February.
    19. Chou, Kuang-Hann & Chen, Chien-Hsun & Mai, Chao-Cheng, 2011. "The impact of third-country effects and economic integration on China's outward FDI," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 2154-2163, September.
    20. Peter J. Buckley, 2018. "Internalisation Theory and Outward Direct Investment by Emerging Market Multinationals," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 195-224, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    China; Latin America; Foreign direct investment; Corporate ownership;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:34:y:2015:i:c:p:274-292. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.