IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v55y2018icp259-272.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Capital intensity, natural resources, and institutional risk preferences in Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Jiao-Hui
  • Wang, Wei
  • Wang, Kai-Li
  • Yeh, Chung-Ying

Abstract

Contrary to the international investment theory, there exists a curious pattern that Chinese OFDI is heavily located in countries with poor institutional quality, which was referred to as the puzzle of Chinese OFDI institutional risk preference. Recent literature has attributed this phenomenon to the non-market behaviors of Chinese multinationals. In this study, however, we investigate whether allowing for a comprehensive consideration of market factors such as capital intensity and natural resources of host country in determining the location of Chinese OFDI, could overturn the puzzle. We revisited the relationship between host-country institutional quality and Chinese OFDI, by using a panel data of Chinese outward investment in 132 economies from 2003 to 2012. The results suggest that the so-called unique institutional risk pattern of Chinese OFDI is simply a statistical artefact but not a real phenomenon. Without exception, Chinese multinationals are prone to locate their investments in countries with high institutional quality, less economic development and more natural resources, which was motivated by higher investment return and access to cheaper resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Jiao-Hui & Wang, Wei & Wang, Kai-Li & Yeh, Chung-Ying, 2018. "Capital intensity, natural resources, and institutional risk preferences in Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 259-272.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:55:y:2018:i:c:p:259-272
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2017.07.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056017305221
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2017.07.015?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. Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung & Minyuan Zhao, 2008. "Perspectives on China's outward foreign direct investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(3), pages 337-350, April.
    2. Hajzler, Christopher, 2014. "Resource-based FDI and expropriation in developing economies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 124-146.
    3. David L. Carr & James R. Markusen & Keith E. Maskus, 2021. "Estimating The Knowledge-Capital Model of the Multinational Enterprise," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 5, pages 95-110, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Jörn Kleinert & Farid Toubal, 2010. "Gravity for FDI," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Agnès Bénassy‐Quéré & Maylis Coupet & Thierry Mayer, 2007. "Institutional Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 764-782, May.
    6. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    7. Lucas, Robert E, Jr, 1990. "Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 92-96, May.
    8. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Lien, Donald, 2011. "Democracy, foreign direct investment and natural resources," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 99-111, May.
    9. Laura Alfaro & Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Vadym Volosovych, 2014. "Sovereigns, Upstream Capital Flows, And Global Imbalances," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 12(5), pages 1240-1284, October.
    10. Kurul, Zühal, 2017. "Nonlinear relationship between institutional factors and FDI flows: Dynamic panel threshold analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 148-160.
    11. Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "How Taxing is Corruption on International Investors?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(1), pages 1-11, February.
    12. Elhanan Helpman & Marc J. Melitz & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2004. "Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 300-316, March.
    13. Elizabeth Asiedu, 2006. "Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: The Role of Natural Resources, Market Size, Government Policy, Institutions and Political Instability," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 63-77, January.
    14. James R. Markusen, 1995. "The Boundaries of Multinational Enterprises and the Theory of International Trade," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 169-189, Spring.
    15. Aizenman, Joshua & Marion, Nancy, 2004. "The merits of horizontal versus vertical FDI in the presence of uncertainty," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 125-148, January.
    16. Sarah Y. Tong, 2005. "Ethnic Networks in FDI and the Impact of Institutional Development," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 563-580, November.
    17. Bruce Blonigen, 2005. "A Review of the Empirical Literature on FDI Determinants," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(4), pages 383-403, December.
    18. 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.
    19. Busse, Matthias & Hefeker, Carsten, 2007. "Political risk, institutions and foreign direct investment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 397-415, June.
    20. Mohsin Habib & Leon Zurawicki, 2002. "Corruption and Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(2), pages 291-307, June.
    21. Lien, Donald & Oh, Chang Hoon & Selmier, W. Travis, 2012. "Confucius institute effects on China's trade and FDI: Isn't it delightful when folks afar study Hanyu?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 147-155.
    22. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    23. 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.
    24. Paul Brenton & Francesca Di Mauro & Matthias Lücke, 2014. "Economic Integration and FDI: An Empirical Analysis off Foreign Investment in the EU and in Central and Eastern Europe," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: INTERNATIONAL TRADE, DISTRIBUTION AND DEVELOPMENT Empirical Studies of Trade Policies, chapter 7, pages 125-151, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    25. 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.
    26. 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.
    27. Brainard, S Lael, 1997. "An Empirical Assessment of the Proximity-Concentration Trade-off between Multinational Sales and Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 520-544, September.
    28. Frenkel, Michael & Funke, Katja & Stadtmann, Georg, 2004. "A panel analysis of bilateral FDI flows to emerging economies," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 281-300, September.
    29. Laura Alfaro & Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Vadym Volosovych, 2008. "Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries? An Empirical Investigation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 347-368, May.
    30. 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.
    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. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram-Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment in oil-abundant countries: The role of institutions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Hui Wang & Xin Zhong, 2023. "An Empirical Study on the Impact of Chinese OFDI on the Global Value Chain Positions of Countries Along the Belt and Road and Threshold Effects," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, February.
    3. Pick-Soon Ling & Ming K. Lim & Ming-Lang Tseng, 2020. "Assessing Sustainable Foreign Direct Investment Performance in Malaysia: A Comparison on Policy Makers and Investor Perceptions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-38, October.
    4. Tan, Man & Yang, Dengyu & Yang, Qijing, 2023. "Institutional quality, asset specificity, and foreign direct investment," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    5. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "The foreign direct investment-institution nexus in oil-abundant countries," Working Papers 1903, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    6. Junsong Wang & Yehua Dennis Wei & Bingquan Lin, 2021. "Functional division and location choices of Chinese outward FDI: The case of ICT firms," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(5), pages 937-957, August.
    7. Xing Zhou & Quan Guo & Ming Zhang, 2021. "Impacts of OFDI on Host Country Energy Consumption and Home Country Energy Efficiency Based on a Belt and Road Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-25, November.
    8. Shi, Buchao & Huang, Liangxiong & Wei, Shengmin & Geng, Xinyue, 2022. "Overseas industrial parks and China's outward foreign direct investment," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Chang, Chiu-Lan & Fang, Ming, 2022. "The connectedness between natural resource commodities and stock market indices: Evidence from the Chinese economy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Quan He & Xishen Cao, 2019. "Pattern and Influencing Factors of Foreign Direct Investment Networks between Countries along the “Belt and Road” Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-23, August.
    11. Rahat, Birjees & Nguyen, Pascal, 2023. "Does ESG performance impact credit portfolios? Evidence from lending to mineral resource firms in emerging markets," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    12. Ling Feng & Lulan Ge & Zhiyuan Li & Ching‐Yi Lin, 2022. "Financial development and natural resources: The dynamics of China’s outward FDI," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 739-762, March.
    13. Yang, Zhenbing & Chen, Zhuo & Shi, Qi & Yan, Bing, 2021. "Does outward foreign direct investment increase debt ratio? Firm-level evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-12.
    14. Peng, Benhong & Zhao, Yinyin & Elahi, Ehsan & Wan, Anxia, 2022. "Pathway and key factor identification of third-party market cooperation of China's overseas energy investment projects," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    15. Ahmed MUSABEH & Mehdi ZOUAOUI, 2020. "Policies and Variables affecting FDI: A Panel Data Analysis of North African Countries," Journal of Economic Policy Researches, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-20, January.
    16. 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.
    17. Alfalih, Abdullah Abdulmohsen & Bel Hadj, Tarek, 2020. "Foreign direct investment determinants in an oil abundant host country: Short and long-run approach for Saudi Arabia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    18. Tong, Tong & Chen, Xiaoyue & Singh, Tarlok & Li, Bin, 2022. "Corporate governance and the outward foreign direct investment: Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 962-980.
    19. Chang, Carolyn W. & Lin, Bing-Huei & Yu, Min-Teh, 2018. "Derivatives trading information, stock market behavior, and financial institutions," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 324-325.
    20. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh & Hung Quang Doan & Tuan Anh Bui & Nam Hoang Vu & Duong Thuy Thanh Le, 2022. "A Revisit of Motives for Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment: The Role of the Institution in Host Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, December.

    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. Ling Feng & Lulan Ge & Zhiyuan Li & Ching‐Yi Lin, 2022. "Financial development and natural resources: The dynamics of China’s outward FDI," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 739-762, March.
    2. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram-Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment in oil-abundant countries: The role of institutions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, April.
    3. Raphael Chiappini & François Viaud, 2021. "Macroeconomic, institutional, and sectoral determinants of outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from Japan," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 404-433, August.
    4. Akhtaruzzaman, M. & Berg, Nathan & Hajzler, Christopher, 2017. "Expropriation risk and FDI in developing countries: Does return of capital dominate return on capital?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 84-107.
    5. Mariam Camarero & Laura Montolio & Cecilio Tamarit, 2020. "Determinants of FDI for Spanish regions: evidence using stock data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(6), pages 2779-2820, December.
    6. Dalila Nicet-Chenaf & Eric Rougier & Kamel Abdellah, 2012. "FDI and macroeconomic volatility: a close-up on the source countries," Post-Print hal-00798467, HAL.
    7. Camarero, Mariam & Montolio, Laura & Tamarit, Cecilio, 2019. "What drives German foreign direct investment? New evidence using Bayesian statistical techniques," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 326-345.
    8. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "The foreign direct investment-institution nexus in oil-abundant countries," Working Papers 1903, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    9. Yao, Shujie & Wang, Pan & Zhang, Jing & Ou, Jinghua, 2016. "Dynamic relationship between China's inward and outward foreign direct investments," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 54-70.
    10. Federico Carril‐Caccia & Elena Pavlova, 2020. "Mergers and acquisitions & trade: A global value chain analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 586-614, March.
    11. Aleksynska, Mariya & Havrylchyk, Olena, 2013. "FDI from the south: The role of institutional distance and natural resources," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 38-53.
    12. Maria Borga & Perla Ibarlucea Flores & Monika Sztajerowska, 2020. "Drivers of divestment decisions of multinational enterprises - A cross-country firm-level perspective," OECD Working Papers on International Investment 2019/03, OECD Publishing.
    13. Mankan M. Koné & Carl Gaigné & Lota Tamini, 2017. "Supply Uncertainty and Foreign Direct Investments in Agri-food Industry," CIRANO Working Papers 2017s-22, CIRANO.
    14. Raphaël Chiappini, 2014. "Institutional Determinants of Japanese Outward FDI in the Manufacturing Industry," GREDEG Working Papers 2014-11, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    15. Mariam Camarero & Laura Montolio & Cecilio Tamarit, 2019. "Determinants of German outward FDI: variable selection using Bayesian statistical," Working Papers 1906, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    16. Cai, Peilin & Kim, Suk-Joong & Wu, Eliza, 2019. "Foreign direct investments from emerging markets: The push-pull effects of sovereign credit ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 110-125.
    17. Resmini, Laura & Siedschlag, Iulia, 2013. "Is foreign direct investment to China crowding out the foreign direct investment to other countries?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 1-16.
    18. Nataliia Osina, 2021. "Global governance and gross capital flows dynamics," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 157(3), pages 463-493, August.
    19. Tag, Mehmet Nasih, 2021. "Judicial institutions of property rights protection and foreign direct investment inflows," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Konstantinos Dellis, 2018. "Financial development and FDI flows: evidence from advanced economies," Working Papers 254, Bank of Greece.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Institutional quality; Capital intensity; Natural resources;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    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:reveco:v:55:y:2018:i:c:p:259-272. 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/inca/620165 .

    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.