IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jintbs/v27y1996i4p655-681.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foreign Direct Investment by Japanese Electronics Firms in the United States and Canada: Modelling the Timing of Entry

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin Tan

    (Nanyang Technological University)

  • Ilan Vertinsky

    (The University of British Columbia)

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between attributes of Japanese electronics firms and the sequence of their investments in the U.S. and Canada. It is argued that a useful way to model foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions is to recognize explicitly the uncertainties involved in them. A probabilistic model of FDI is specified. The following hypotheses are incorporated in the model: 1) the higher the risk-adjusted expected net benefits from foreign direct investment, ceteris paribus, the higher the probability of making an investment at any particular moment and thus the probability of investing earlier; 2) risk-adjusted expected net benefits from FDI by a firm are a function of its possession of certain types of intangible, transportable assets; 3) the uncertainties involved with FDI may be reduced with the passage of time and with increased experience with foreign operations; 4) parent company attributes that facilitate market intelligence capabilities permit early recognition of investment opportunities; and 5) timing of entry may reflect strategic considerations such as responding to growing foreign market opportunities, the need to ensure market access and the presence of opportunities to obtain abnormal profits due to market concentration. The models are estimated using Cox's proportional hazards regression model. Results generally confirm the hypotheses that size and financial capabilities, as well as possession of some knowledge-based, firm-specific strategic assets, are significantly related to early FDI. They also confirm that timing of entry is affected by market opportunities and in some cases by the need to ensure market access. We did not find evidence in this sector that differences in market concentration significantly affected the timing of FDI. Analyses are also provided of inter-period changes in the importance of different types of intangible assets in explaining earlier FDI as well as changes that reflect differences in host country environments.© 1996 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1996) 27, 655–681

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Tan & Ilan Vertinsky, 1996. "Foreign Direct Investment by Japanese Electronics Firms in the United States and Canada: Modelling the Timing of Entry," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(4), pages 655-681, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:27:y:1996:i:4:p:655-681
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jibs/journal/v27/n4/pdf/8490148a.pdf
    File Function: Link to full text PDF
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jibs/journal/v27/n4/full/8490148a.html
    File Function: Link to full text HTML
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

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

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Tan, Benjamin & Erramilli, Krishna & Liang, Tan Wee, 2001. "The influence of dissemination risks, strategic control and global management skills on firms' modal decision in host countries," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 323-340, June.
    2. Mohammad Anisur Rahman & Xu Qi, 2016. "Global Supply Chain Management of RMG Outsourcing: Factors Affecting Country Selection," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(8), pages 241-241, July.
    3. Bas Hooijmaaijers, 2021. "A comparative analysis of the role of the state in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean investment in the EU," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 427-444, December.
    4. Gianvito Lanzolla & Alessandro Giudici, 2017. "Pioneering strategies in the digital world. Insights from the Axel Springer case," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(5), pages 744-777, July.
    5. Melnyk, Valentyna & Giarratana, Marco & Torres, Anna, 2014. "Marking your trade: Cultural factors in the prolongation of trademarks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 478-485.
    6. Lu, Jane W., 2003. "The evolving contributions in international strategic management research," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 193-213.
    7. Bürgel, Oliver & Fier, Andreas & Licht, Georg & Murray, Gordon, 2001. "Timing of international market entry of UK and German high-tech start-ups," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-51, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Hongxin Zhao & Chin-Chun Hsu, 2007. "Social ties and foreign market entry: An empirical inquiry," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 815-844, December.
    9. Amdam, Rolv Petter & Benito, Gabriel R.G., 2022. "Temporality and the first foreign direct investment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(5).
    10. 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.
    11. repec:lic:licosd:14604 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Gielens, K. & Dekimpe, M.G., 2004. "How To Seize a Window of Opportunity: The Entry Strategy of Retail Firms into Transition Economies," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-038-MKT, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    13. Fisch, Jan Hendrik, 2008. "Internalization and internationalization under competing real options," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 108-123, June.
    14. Mª Katiauska Cabrera-Suárez & Arístides Olivares Mesa, 2012. "Family firms’ resources and the timing of the export development process," Economic Analysis Working Papers (2002-2010). Atlantic Review of Economics (2011-2016), Colexio de Economistas de A Coruña, Spain and Fundación Una Galicia Moderna, vol. 1, pages 1-1, June.
    15. Jan Hendrik, Fisch, 2011. "Real call options to enlarge foreign subsidiaries - The moderating effect of irreversibility on the influence of economic volatility and political instability on subsequent FDI," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 517-526, October.
    16. Sels, A.T.H., 2006. "Foreign direct investment as an entry mode. An application in emerging economies," Other publications TiSEM 583ca9b5-1691-425d-8f77-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Sakakibara, Mariko & Serwin, Kenneth, 2000. "U.S. Distribution Entry Strategy of Japanese Manufacturing Firms: The Role of Keiretsu," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 43-72, March.
    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. Lyroudi K. & Subeniotis D. & Georgopoulos N., 2002. "Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of Eastern Europe," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3-4), pages 71-90, July-Dece.

    More about this item

    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:pal:jintbs:v:27:y:1996:i:4:p:655-681. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.