IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/117242.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Barbarians at the gate? FDI and target firms’ management quality

Author

Listed:
  • Beccari, Gabriele
  • Pisicoli, Beniamino
  • Vocalelli, Giorgio

Abstract

We analyse whether firms targeted by a foreign investor improve their management quality and practices after the acquisition, focusing on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) occurring in Italy between 2010 and 2020. To proxy management quality, we resort to granular data on ISO certificates held by firms and find that those acquired by foreign investors experience an mprovement in management standards, regardless of the country from which the FDI originates. This is not the case for firms involved in domestic M&As. Our empirical strategy controls for ex ante selection, and our findings show that the positive effects of FDI documented in the literature can be partly attributed to improved managerial practices implemented in target firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Beccari, Gabriele & Pisicoli, Beniamino & Vocalelli, Giorgio, 2023. "Barbarians at the gate? FDI and target firms’ management quality," MPRA Paper 117242, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:117242
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/117242/1/Beccari%2C%20G.%2C%20Pisicoli%2C%20B.%20and%20Vocalelli%2C%20G.%282023%29.%20Barbarians%20at%20the%20gate%20FDI%20and%20target%20firms%20management%20quality.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bamiatzi, Vassiliki & Efthyvoulou, Georgios & Jabbour, Liza, 2017. "Foreign vs domestic ownership on debt reduction: An investigation of acquisition targets in Italy and Spain," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 801-815.
    2. Paunov, Caroline, 2016. "Corruption's asymmetric impacts on firm innovation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 216-231.
    3. Fons-Rosen, Christian & Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem & Sørensen, Bent E. & Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina & Volosovych, Vadym, 2021. "Quantifying productivity gains from foreign investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    4. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1351-1408.
    5. Stiebale, Joel, 2016. "Cross-border M&As and innovative activity of acquiring and target firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-15.
    6. Magnus Blomström & Ari Kokko & Mario Zejan, 2000. "Multinational Corporations and Spillovers," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 8, pages 101-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Pellegrino, Bruno & Zingales, Luigi, 2017. "Diagnosing the Italian Disease," Working Papers 269, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    8. Serguey Braguinsky & Atsushi Ohyama & Tetsuji Okazaki & Chad Syverson, 2015. "Acquisitions, Productivity, and Profitability: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(7), pages 2086-2119, July.
    9. Ann E. Harrison & Inessa Love & Margaret S. McMillan, 2022. "Global capital flows and financing constraints," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 8, pages 181-213, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. Wang, Jian & Wang, Xiao, 2015. "Benefits of foreign ownership: Evidence from foreign direct investment in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 325-338.
    11. Bourke, Jane & Roper, Stephen, 2017. "Innovation, quality management and learning: Short-term and longer-term effects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1505-1518.
    12. Abebe, Girum & McMillan, Margaret & Serafinelli, Michel, 2022. "Foreign direct investment and knowledge diffusion in poor locations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    13. J. Peter Neary, 2007. "Cross-Border Mergers as Instruments of Comparative Advantage," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(4), pages 1229-1257.
    14. Alquist, Ron & Mukherjee, Rahul & Tesar, Linda, 2016. "Fire-sale FDI or business as usual?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 93-113.
    15. Terlaak, Ann & King, Andrew A., 2006. "The effect of certification with the ISO 9000 Quality Management Standard: A signaling approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 579-602, August.
    16. Veugelers, Reinhilde & Cassiman, Bruno, 2004. "Foreign subsidiaries as a channel of international technology diffusion: Some direct firm level evidence from Belgium," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 455-476, April.
    17. Matthias Arnold, Jens & Javorcik, Beata S., 2009. "Gifted kids or pushy parents? Foreign direct investment and plant productivity in Indonesia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 42-53, September.
    18. Johnstone, Nick & Labonne, Julien, 2009. "Why do manufacturing facilities introduce environmental management systems? Improving and/or signaling performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 719-730, January.
    19. Nocke, Volker & Yeaple, Stephen, 2007. "Cross-border mergers and acquisitions vs. greenfield foreign direct investment: The role of firm heterogeneity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 336-365, July.
    20. Nicholas Bloom & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2012. "Americans Do IT Better: US Multinationals and the Productivity Miracle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 167-201, February.
    21. Bollaert, Helen & Delanghe, Marieke, 2015. "Securities Data Company and Zephyr, data sources for M&A research," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 85-100.
    22. Gershenberg, Irving, 1987. "The training and spread of managerial know-how, a comparative analysis of multinational and other firms in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 15(7), pages 931-939, July.
    23. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Why Do Management Practices Differ across Firms and Countries?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 203-224, Winter.
    24. Maria Guadalupe & Olga Kuzmina & Catherine Thomas, 2012. "Innovation and Foreign Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3594-3627, December.
    25. Aaditya Mattoo & Marcelo Olarreaga & Kamal Saggi, 2023. "Mode of foreign entry, technology transfer, and FDI policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Kamal Saggi (ed.), Technology Transfer, Foreign Direct Investment, and the Protection of Intellectual Property in the Global Economy, chapter 25, pages 567-583, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    26. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    27. Nicholas Bloom & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lucia Foster & Ron Jarmin & Megha Patnaik & Itay Saporta-Eksten & John Van Reenen, 2019. "What Drives Differences in Management Practices?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1648-1683, May.
    28. Branstetter, Lee, 2006. "Is foreign direct investment a channel of knowledge spillovers? Evidence from Japan's FDI in the United States," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 325-344, March.
    29. Fabiano Schivardi & Tom Schmitz, 2020. "The IT Revolution and Southern Europe’s Two Lost Decades [Lack of Selection and Limits to Delegation: Firm Dynamics in Developing Countries]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(5), pages 2441-2486.
    30. Almeida, Rita, 2007. "The labor market effects of foreign owned firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 75-96, May.
    31. Darius Palia, 2000. "The Impact of Regulation on CEO Labor Markets," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(1), pages 165-179, Spring.
    32. Héricourt, Jérôme & Poncet, Sandra, 2009. "FDI and credit constraints: Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-21, March.
    33. Sinani, Evis & Meyer, Klaus E., 2004. "Spillovers of technology transfer from FDI: the case of Estonia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 445-466, September.
    34. Chiara Bentivogli & Litterio Mirenda, 2017. "Foreign Ownership and Performance: Evidence from Italian Firms," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 251-273, September.
    35. Bolatto, Stefano & Pignataro, Giuseppe, 2023. "Entering the supplier base through certified management standards," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 4-17.
    36. Kalina Manova & Shang-Jin Wei & Zhiwei Zhang, 2015. "Firm Exports and Multinational Activity Under Credit Constraints," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(3), pages 574-588, July.
    37. Bircan, Çağatay, 2019. "Ownership Structure and Productivity of Multinationals," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 125-143.
    38. Iwasaki, Ichiro & Tokunaga, Masahiro, 2016. "Technology transfer and spillovers from FDI in transition economies: A meta-analysis," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 1086-1114.
    39. Nicoletti, Giuseppe & von Rueden, Christina & Andrews, Dan, 2020. "Digital technology diffusion: A matter of capabilities, incentives or both?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    40. Chiara Bentivogli & Litterio Mirenda, 2017. "Foreign ownership and performance: evidence from a panel of Italian firms," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Uses of central balance sheet data offices' information, volume 45, Bank for International Settlements.
    41. Judith Chevalier & Glenn Ellison, 1999. "Are Some Mutual Fund Managers Better Than Others? Cross‐Sectional Patterns in Behavior and Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(3), pages 875-899, June.
    42. John Child, 2000. "Foreign Direct Investment in the UK 1985-1994: The Impact on Domestic Management Practice," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 1-1, January.
    43. John Child & David Faulkner & Robert Pitkethly, 2000. "Foreign Direct Investment in the UK 1985–1994: The Impact on Domestic Management Practice," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 1-1, January.
    44. Xiaolan Fu, 2012. "Foreign Direct Investment and Managerial Knowledge Spillovers through the Diffusion of Management Practices," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5), pages 970-999, July.
    45. Hu, Qing & Li, Wenjing & Lin, Chen & Wei, Lai, 2023. "Trade-induced competition and ownership dynamics," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    46. King, Gary & Nielsen, Richard, 2019. "Why Propensity Scores Should Not Be Used for Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(4), pages 435-454, October.
    47. An, Zhe & Chen, Chen & Li, Donghui & Yin, Chao, 2021. "Foreign institutional ownership and the speed of leverage adjustment: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Stiebale, Joel & Vencappa, Dev, 2018. "Acquisitions, markups, efficiency, and product quality: Evidence from India," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 70-87.
    2. Marcus Biermann, 2022. "The role of management practices in acquisitions and the FDI location decision," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 137-165, February.
    3. Maria Garcia-Vega & Apoorva Gupta & Richard Kneller, 2023. "Is acquisition-FDI during an economic crisis detrimental for domestic innovation?," Discussion Papers 2023-03, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    4. Alquist, Ron & Berman, Nicolas & Mukherjee, Rahul & Tesar, Linda L., 2019. "Financial constraints, institutions, and foreign ownership," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 63-83.
    5. Lorenzo Bencivelli & Beniamino Pisicoli, 2022. "Foreign investors and target firms’ financial structure," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 169, pages 230-251.
    6. Koch, Michael & Smolka, Marcel, 2019. "Foreign ownership and skill-biased technological change," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 84-104.
    7. Ronald B. Davies, 2018. "From China with Love: The Role of FDI from Third Countries on EU Competition and R&D Activities," Working Papers 201813, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    8. Lorenzo Bencivelli & Beniamino Pisicoli, 2021. "Foreign investors and target firms’ financial structure: cavalry or locusts?," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1327, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    9. Joel Stiebale & Nicole Wößner, 2020. "M&As, Investment and Financing Constraints," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 49-92, January.
    10. Ali, Nesma & Stiebale, Joel, 2021. "Foreign direct investment, prices and efficiency: Evidence from India," DICE Discussion Papers 363, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    11. Alviarez, Vanessa, 2019. "Multinational production and comparative advantage," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 1-54.
    12. Wang, Jian & Wang, Xiao, 2015. "Benefits of foreign ownership: Evidence from foreign direct investment in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 325-338.
    13. Bircan, Çağatay, 2019. "Ownership Structure and Productivity of Multinationals," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 125-143.
    14. Fabrizio Leone, 2022. "Multinationals, Robots, and the Labor Share," Working Papers ECARES 2022-17, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    15. García-Vega, María & Hofmann, Patricia & Kneller, Richard, 2019. "Multinationals and the globalization of R&D," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 583-614.
    16. Fredrik Heyman & Pehr‐Johan Norbäck & Rickard Hammarberg, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment, Source Country Heterogeneity and Management Practices," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(342), pages 362-395, April.
    17. Koch, Michael & Smolka, Marcel, 2017. "Foreign Ownership and Skill-biased Technological Change," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168202, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Brucal, Arlan & Javorcik, Beata & Love, Inessa, 2019. "Good for the environment, good for business: Foreign acquisitions and energy intensity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    19. Stiebale, Joel, 2016. "Cross-border M&As and innovative activity of acquiring and target firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-15.
    20. Dimitrios Exadactylos & Massimo Riccaboni & Armando Rungi, 2019. "Talents from Abroad. Foreign Managers and Productivity in the United Kingdom," Working Papers 01/2019, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, revised Dec 2019.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    FDI; M&As; Management quality; Foreign investors; Productivity.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business
    • M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pra:mprapa:117242. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.