IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iburev/v20y2011i3p338-352.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Lei, Han-Sheng
  • Chen, Yung-Shuan

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei, Han-Sheng & Chen, Yung-Shuan, 2011. "The right tree for the right bird: Location choice decision of Taiwanese firms' FDI in China and Vietnam," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 338-352, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:20:y:2011:i:3:p:338-352
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593110001216
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Douglas P Woodward & Robert J Rolfe, 1993. "The Location of Export-Oriented Foreign Direct Investment in the Caribbean Basin," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 24(1), pages 121-144, March.
    2. Edwards, Ronald W. & Buckley, Peter J., 1998. "Choice of location and mode: the case of Australian investors in the UK," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 503-520, October.
    3. Homin Chen & Tain-Jy Chen, 1998. "Network Linkages and Location Choice in Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(3), pages 445-467, September.
    4. Head, Keith & Ries, John & Swenson, Deborah, 1995. "Agglomeration benefits and location choice: Evidence from Japanese manufacturing investments in the United States," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 223-247, May.
    5. Ricardo G Flores & Ruth V Aguilera, 2007. "Globalization and location choice: an analysis of US multinational firms in 1980 and 2000," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(7), pages 1187-1210, December.
    6. J. Myles Shaver & Fredrick Flyer, 2000. "Agglomeration economies, firm heterogeneity, and foreign direct investment in the United States," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(12), pages 1175-1193, December.
    7. Peter J Buckley & Timothy M Devinney & Jordan J Louviere, 2007. "Do managers behave the way theory suggests? A choice-theoretic examination of foreign direct investment location decision-making," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(7), pages 1069-1094, December.
    8. Kogut, Bruce & Chang, Sea Jin, 1991. "Technological Capabilities and Japanese Foreign Direct Investment in the United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(3), pages 401-413, August.
    9. Garry D. Bruton & David Ahlstrom & Johnny C. C. Wan, 2003. "Turnaround in East Asian firms: evidence from ethnic Overseas Chinese communities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 519-540, June.
    10. Pak, Yong Suhk & Park, Young-Ryeol, 2005. "Characteristics of Japanese FDI in the East and the West: Understanding the strategic motives of Japanese investment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 254-266, August.
    11. J. Carlos Jarillo, 1988. "On strategic networks," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 31-41, January.
    12. John H Dunning, 2002. "Perspectives on International Business Research: A Professional Autobiography Fifty Years Researching and Teaching International Business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(4), pages 817-835, December.
    13. Trevino, Len J. & Grosse, Robert, 2002. "An analysis of firm-specific resources and foreign direct investment in the United States," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 431-452, August.
    14. Caves, Richard E, 1971. "International Corporations: The Industrial Economics of Foreign Investment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 38(149), pages 1-27, February.
    15. Coyne, Kevin P., 1986. "Sustainable competitive advantage--What it is, what it isn't," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 54-61.
    16. John H Dunning, 1998. "Location and the Multinational Enterprise: A Neglected Factor?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(1), pages 45-66, March.
    17. Bill McEvily & Akbar Zaheer, 1999. "Bridging ties: a source of firm heterogeneity in competitive capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(12), pages 1133-1156, December.
    18. Dai, Ou & Liu, Xiaohui, 2009. "Returnee entrepreneurs and firm performance in Chinese high-technology industries," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 373-386, August.
    19. Yadong Luo & Rosalie L Tung, 2007. "International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 481-498, July.
    20. Cheng, Leonard K. & Kwan, Yum K., 2000. "What are the determinants of the location of foreign direct investment? The Chinese experience," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 379-400, August.
    21. Johanson, Jan & Mattsson, Lars-Gunnar, 1987. "Interorganizational relations in industrial systems : a network approach compared with the transaction cost approach," Working Papers 1987:7, Uppsala University, Department of Business Studies.
    22. Yui Kimura, 1989. "Firm-Specific Strategic Advantages and Foreign Direct Investments Behavior of Firms: The Case of Japanese Semiconductor Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 20(2), pages 296-314, June.
    23. Aw, Bee Yan & Lee, Yi, 2008. "Firm heterogeneity and location choice of Taiwanese multinationals," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 403-415, December.
    24. Igor Filatotchev & Roger Strange & Jenifer Piesse & Yung-Chih Lien, 2007. "FDI by firms from newly industrialised economies in emerging markets: corporate governance, entry mode and location," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 556-572, July.
    25. Lilach Nachum & Srilata Zaheer, 2005. "The persistence of distance? The impact of technology on MNE motivations for foreign investment," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 747-767, August.
    26. Jose I Galan & Javier Gonzalez-Benito & Jose A Zuñiga-Vincente, 2007. "Factors determining the location decisions of Spanish MNEs: an analysis based on the investment development path," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(6), pages 975-997, November.
    27. Witold J. Henisz & Jeffrey T. Macher, 2004. "Firm- and Country-Level Trade-offs and Contingencies in the Evaluation of Foreign Investment: The Semiconductor Industry, 1994–2002," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 537-554, October.
    28. Shih-Fen S Chen, 2005. "Extending internalization theory: a new perspective on international technology transfer and its generalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(2), pages 231-245, March.
    29. Wilbur Chung & Juan Alcácer, 2002. "Knowledge Seeking and Location Choice of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(12), pages 1534-1554, December.
    30. Ma, Xufei & Delios, Andrew, 2007. "A new tale of two cities: Japanese FDIs in Shanghai and Beijing, 1979-2003," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 207-228, April.
    31. Aw, Bee Yan & Lee, Yi, 2008. "Firm heterogeneity and location choice of Taiwanese multinationals," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 167-179, May.
    32. Tseng, C. -H. & Yu, C-M. J. & Seetoo, D. H. W., 2002. "The relationships between types of network organization and adoption of management mechanisms: an empirical study of knowledge transactions of MNC's subsidiaries in Taiwan," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 211-230, April.
    33. Cletus C. Coughlin & Eran Segev, 2000. "Location Determinants of New Foreign‐Owned Manufacturing Plants," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 323-351, May.
    34. Ulgado, Francis M., 1997. "Location decision-making characteristics of foreign direct investment in the United States," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 271-293, June.
    35. Stephen J. Kobrin, 1991. "An empirical analysis of the determinants of global integration," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S1), pages 17-31, June.
    36. Lien, Yung-Chih & Piesse, Jenifer & Strange, Roger & Filatotchev, Igor, 2005. "The role of corporate governance in FDI decisions: Evidence from Taiwan," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 739-763, December.
    37. Shige Makino & Chung-Ming Lau & Rhy-Song Yeh, 2002. "Asset-Exploitation Versus Asset-Seeking: Implications for Location Choice of Foreign Direct Investment from Newly Industrialized Economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(3), pages 403-421, September.
    38. John H Dunning, 1995. "Reappraising the Eclectic Paradigm in an Age of Alliance Capitalism," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 26(3), pages 461-491, September.
    39. Jean‐Francois Hennart & Young‐Ryeol Park, 1994. "Location, governance, and strategic determinants of japanese manufacturing investment in the united states," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 419-436, July.
    40. Wilbur Chung, 2001. "Identifying Technology Transfer in Foreign Direct Investment: Influence of Industry Conditions and Investing Firm Motives," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(2), pages 211-229, June.
    41. Hans B. Thorelli, 1986. "Networks: Between markets and hierarchies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 37-51, January.
    42. 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.
    43. Tsang, Eric W.K., 2005. "Influences on foreign ownership level and entry mode choice in Vietnam," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 441-463, August.
    44. Dunning, John H., 2000. "The eclectic paradigm as an envelope for economic and business theories of MNE activity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 163-190, April.
    45. Coviello, Nicole & Munro, Hugh, 1997. "Network relationships and the internationalisation process of small software firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 361-386, August.
    46. Wheeler, David & Mody, Ashoka, 1992. "International investment location decisions : The case of U.S. firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1-2), pages 57-76, August.
    47. Kumar, Nagesh, 2001. "Determinants of location of overseas R&D activity of multinational enterprises: the case of US and Japanese corporations1," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 159-174, January.
    48. Y Hsing, 1996. "Blood, Thicker than Water: Interpersonal Relations and Taiwanese Investment in Southern China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 28(12), pages 2241-2261, December.
    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. Hutzschenreuter, Thomas & Matt, Tanja & Kleindienst, Ingo, 2020. "Going subnational: A literature review and research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    2. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard & Asmussen, Christian Geisler & Weatherall, Cecilie Dohlmann, 2017. "The location choice of foreign direct investments: Empirical evidence and methodological challenges," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 62-82.
    3. Chen Siyue & Wei Suqiong & Huang Gengzhi & Zhang Hongou, 2021. "Value chain organization models of Taiwanese electronic information enterprises in Mainland China and their spatiotemporal evolution processes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-19, July.
    4. Li, Xiaoqing & Quan, Rose & Stoian, Maria-Cristina & Azar, Goudarz, 2018. "Do MNEs from developed and emerging economies differ in their location choice of FDI? A 36-year review," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1089-1103.
    5. McDonald, Conor & Buckley, Peter J. & Voss, Hinrich & Cross, Adam R. & Chen, Liang, 2018. "Place, space, and foreign direct investment into peripheral cities," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 803-813.
    6. Saleh, Ali Salman & Anh Nguyen, Thi Lan & Vinen, Denis & Safari, Arsalan, 2017. "A new theoretical framework to assess Multinational Corporations’ motivation for Foreign Direct Investment: A case study on Vietnamese service industries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 630-644.
    7. Cher-Hung Tseng, 2015. "Determinants of MNC’s Knowledge Inflows to Subsidiaries: A Perspective on Internalization Advantages," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 119-150, February.
    8. Bach Nguyen, 2022. "Internal migration and earnings: Do migrant entrepreneurs and migrant employees differ?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(4), pages 901-944, August.
    9. Runhui Lin & Yuan Gui & Zaiyang Xie & Lu Liu, 2019. "Green Governance and International Business Strategies of Emerging Economies’ Multinational Enterprises: A Multiple-Case Study of Chinese Firms in Pollution-Intensive Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-32, February.
    10. Noémie Dominguez, 2018. "Promotion agencies and SMEs’ internationalization process: A blessing or a curse? [Agences de promotion et processus internationalisation des PME: bénédiction ou malédiction?]," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 58-81, March.
    11. Gilbert Kofi Adarkwah & Tine Petersen Malonæs, 2022. "Firm-specific advantages: a comprehensive review with a focus on emerging markets," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 539-585, June.
    12. Zhao, Yanping & Chen, Qing & de Haan, Jakob, 2023. "Does central bank independence matter for the location choices of Chinese firms’ foreign investments?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).

    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. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard & Asmussen, Christian Geisler & Weatherall, Cecilie Dohlmann, 2017. "The location choice of foreign direct investments: Empirical evidence and methodological challenges," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 62-82.
    2. Li, Xiaoqing & Quan, Rose & Stoian, Maria-Cristina & Azar, Goudarz, 2018. "Do MNEs from developed and emerging economies differ in their location choice of FDI? A 36-year review," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1089-1103.
    3. Naveen Kumar Jain & Tanvi Kothari & Vikas Kumar, 2016. "Location Choice Research: Proposing New Agenda," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 303-324, June.
    4. Roger Strange & Igor Filatotchev & Yung-chih Lien & Jenifer Piesse, 2009. "Insider Control and the FDI Location Decision," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 433-454, September.
    5. Saleh, Ali Salman & Anh Nguyen, Thi Lan & Vinen, Denis & Safari, Arsalan, 2017. "A new theoretical framework to assess Multinational Corporations’ motivation for Foreign Direct Investment: A case study on Vietnamese service industries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 630-644.
    6. Tiago Loncan, 2021. "The Effects of Project Scale on FDI Location Choices: Evidence from Emerging Economies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 157-205, April.
    7. 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.
    8. Fabienne Boudier‐Bensebaa, 2005. "Agglomeration economies and location choice: Foreign direct investment in Hungary," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 13(4), pages 605-628, October.
    9. Ben Kedia & Nolan Gaffney & Jack Clampit, 2012. "EMNEs and Knowledge-seeking FDI," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 155-173, April.
    10. Lin, Feng-Jyh, 2010. "The determinants of foreign direct investment in China: The case of Taiwanese firms in the IT industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 479-485, May.
    11. Paul, Justin & Feliciano-Cestero, María M., 2021. "Five decades of research on foreign direct investment by MNEs: An overview and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 800-812.
    12. Lien, Yung-Chih & Filatotchev, Igor, 2015. "Ownership characteristics as determinants of FDI location decisions in emerging economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 637-650.
    13. Claver-Cortés, Enrique & Marco-Lajara, Bartolome & Manresa-Marhuenda, Encarnación & García-Lillo, F. & Seva-Larrosa, Pedro, 2017. "Location Decisions and Agglomeration Economies: Domestic and Foreign Companies," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 39, pages 99-135.
    14. Hsu, Chia-Wen & Chen, Homin & Caskey, D’Arcy, 2017. "Local conditions, entry timing, and foreign subsidiary performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 544-554.
    15. Duanmu, Jing-Lin & Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Lu, Jane Wenzhen & Clegg, Jeremy, 2022. "Contraction under minimum wages? Operational and financial advantages of multinational subsidiaries in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2).
    16. Nigel Driffield & Yong Yang, 2021. "Leveraging the benefits of location decisions into performance:A global view from matched MNEs," Working Papers 011, The Productivity Institute.
    17. Chidlow, Agnieszka & Salciuviene, Laura & Young, Stephen, 2009. "Regional determinants of inward FDI distribution in Poland," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 119-133, April.
    18. Danchi Tan & Weichieh Su & Joseph T. Mahoney & Yasemin Kor, 2020. "A review of research on the growth of multinational enterprises: A Penrosean lens," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 498-537, June.
    19. Sarker, Bibhuti & Serieux, John, 2023. "Multilevel determinants of FDI: A regional comparative analysis," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    20. Chiara Franco & Francesco Rentocchini & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2008. "Why do firms invest abroad? An analysis of the motives underlying Foreign Direct Investments," Department of Economics Working Papers 0817, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.

    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:iburev:v:20:y:2011:i:3:p:338-352. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/133/description#description .

    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.