The location strategies of multinationals from emerging countries in the EU regions
Riccardo Crescenzi, Carlo Pietrobelli & Roberta Rabellotti
#2015-009
This paper contributes to the current debate in both Economic Geography
and International Business on the nature and strategies of Multinational
Enterprises (MNEs) from emerging countries (EMNEs). The paper fills a
very relevant gap in the existing literature by shedding new light on
the location strategies of EMNEs at the national and regional level,
looking at their investment drivers and systematically comparing them
with those of multinationals from advanced countries (AMNEs).
The empirical analysis looks at the location choices of MNEs in the
European Union (EU-25) regions and unveils that EMNEs follow distinctive
location strategies. Their attraction into large regional markets is
similar to AMNEs as well as their irresponsiveness to efficiency seeking
motives. Conversely, the most knowledge-intensive investments of EMNEs
respond mainly to two 'attraction' factors: strategic assets (in the
form of local technological dynamism) and the agglomeration of foreign
investments in the same business functions. In addition, both the
national and the regional levels are simultaneously relevant to EMNEs
decisions.
JEL Classification: F21, F23, O33, R12, R58
Keywords: Multinationals, Emerging Countries, Regions, European Union