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Determinants of the Profitability of Japanese Manufacturing Affiliates in China and Other Regions: Does Localization of Procurement, Sales, and Management Matter?

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  • ITO Keiko
  • FUKAO Kyoji

Abstract

Does localization of procurements, sales, and management contribute to the profitability of overseas affiliates? This study examines this question by analyzing the performance of Japanese multinationals' manufacturing affiliates in China using a comprehensive affiliate-level dataset for the period from 1989 to 2002 collected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). We find that even though foreign multinationals often seem to enter China for the local market potential, affiliates with a higher local sales ratio tend to be less profitable - a pattern that is conspicuously different from that observed for Japanese affiliates in other regions such as the USA or the ASEAN-4, where local sales orientation has a positive impact on profitability. On the other hand, we find that Japanese affiliates' profitability was positively associated with their local procurement ratio. Using the coefficients of the profit function estimated from data on all Japanese manufacturing affiliates around the world, we can calculate the effect of localization (local sales and local procurements) on profitability by country, controlling for the level of GDP and per-capita GDP. In the case of China, the localization effects are positive following the country's accession to the WTO, suggesting that both local procurement and sales expansion contribute to higher profitability in China.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) in its series Discussion papers with number 07001.

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Length: 46 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:07001

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  1. Belderbos,R. & Carree,M., 2000. "The Location of Japanese Investments in China: Agglomeration Effects, Keiretsu, and Firm Heterogeneity," Research Memoranda 002, Maastricht : NIBOR, Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research.
  2. Fukao, Kyoji & Ito, Keiko & Kwon, Hyeog Ug, 2005. "Do out-in M&As bring higher TFP to Japan? An empirical analysis based on micro-data on Japanese manufacturing firms," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 272-301, June.
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  6. Fukao, Kyoji & Ishido, Hikari & Ito, Keiko, 2003. "Vertical Intra-Industry Trade and Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia," Discussion Paper Series a434, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
  7. Jefferson, Gary H. & Rawski, Thomas G. & Li, Wang & Yuxin, Zheng, 2000. "Ownership, Productivity Change, and Financial Performance in Chinese Industry," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 786-813, December.
  8. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-38, May.
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  10. Belderbos, Rene & Capannelli, G & Fukao, K, 2001. "Backward vertical linkages of foreign manufacturing affiliates: Evidence from Japanese multinationals," Open Access publications from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven urn:hdl:123456789/99731, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
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  13. Kyoji Fukao, 2004. "Do Foreign Firms Bring Greater Total Factor Productivity to Japan?," Discussion papers 04014, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
  14. Robert E. Lipsey, 2004. "Home- and Host-Country Effects of Foreign Direct Investment," NBER Chapters, in: Challenges to Globalization: Analyzing the Economics, pages 333-382 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  15. Shujiro Urata & Toshiyuki Matsuura & Yuhong Wei, 2006. "International Intrafirm Transfer of Management Technology by Japanese Multinational Corporations," Discussion papers 06006, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
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