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Location choices of Chinese greenfield investments across EU regions: the role of industry and country-of-origin agglomerations

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  • Yifei Wang
  • Andrea Ascani
  • Carolina Castaldi

Abstract

The presence of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Europe is on the rise, yet they concentrate in specific regions. Traditional spatial explanations of this clustering refer to the co-location of foreign and local firms in the same or related sectors (‘industry agglomeration’). Nonetheless, Chinese investors may also favour locations with a presence of Chinese firms and ethnic communities (‘country-of-origin agglomeration’). We investigate the combined role of both agglomeration typologies by using data on 1307 Chinese investments in 176 NUTS-2 regions during the period 2009–19. While both agglomerations matter in general, we find a substitution effect of country-of-origin agglomeration offsetting the benefits of industry agglomeration.

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  • Yifei Wang & Andrea Ascani & Carolina Castaldi, 2023. "Location choices of Chinese greenfield investments across EU regions: the role of industry and country-of-origin agglomerations," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(9), pages 1714-1730, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:57:y:2023:i:9:p:1714-1730
    DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2022.2142542
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    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

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