International Business Commons^™

Where Intangibles Travel: Essays On The Tax-Motivated Geography Of Innovation And Capital, Xuerui Kou

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation explores how taxation and institutional environments shape the global strategies of United States multinational enterprises (MNEs), with a particular focus on intangible assets and the cross-border allocation of innovation. Positioned at the intersection of international trade, public economics, and innovation studies, the three chapters collectively examine firm responses to international tax incentives and regulatory asymmetries.

Chapter 1 introduces the motivation and theoretical foundations of the dissertation, reviews related literature, and outlines the core research questions and empirical strategies. It highlights the increasing policy and academic interest in the geographic mobility of intangible capital, particularly in the context of …

Boots On The Ground: Foreign Direct Investment By Born Digital Firms, Maximilian Stalkkamp, Liang Chen, Sali Li

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Research Summary: Recent global strategy research on born digital firms (i.e., firms with digital products distributed through digital channels) has paid only limited attention to the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the internationalization of such firms. We argue that exploiting digital technologies requires a range of complementary, non-digital resources. Born digitals typically deploy FDI when large cultural and geographic distances limit the fungibility and scalability of such complementary resources, leading to a positive relationship between distance (cultural and geographic) and FDI. The positive distance effect is moderated by business model type. Using a sample of US-based born digital …

The Provenances And Postscripts Of 1989, Jokubas Salyga

Political Science Faculty Publications

The books under review exemplify some of the finest recent work on the historically informed political economy of Central and Eastern Europe. While different in their conceptual frameworks and geographical foci, the titles converge in the advancement of nuanced and convincing arguments, displaying both theoretical acuity and empirical depth to great effect. Bartel, Fabry, and Pula all share a resolute dedication to illuminating the under-explored provenances of neoliberalism and/or globalization in the region, that predate the annus mirabilis of 1989. Their contributions situate the ‘Eastern bloc’ states within the contours of evolving global political economy and the existential crises engulfing …

Primitive Accumulation And Multinational Corporations: The Evolution Of Dispossession And Exploitation In The Rubber Industry, Matthew Rochat

The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development

I examine how the process of primitive accumulation has led to evolving forms of dispossession and exploitation carried out by multinational corporations in the rubber industry. After a brief review of relevant literature, I outline a novel analytical approach to multinational corporations engaged in natural resource extraction, referred to as the Parasitic Extraction Model. I then demonstrate this approach using three case studies. The first, Leopold II’s Congo, showcases the barbaric underpinnings of primitive accumulation in the rubber industry in its crudest form. The subsequent section shifts to the interwar period with Fordlândia in the Brazilian Amazon where I analyze …

Subsidiary Staffing, Location Choice, And Shareholder Rights Effectiveness, Nathaniel C. Lupton, Vishaal Baulkaran, Yeonji No

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Institutional differences between countries influence strategic choices and performance of international businesses, but the unintended effects of legal institutions on firm legitimacy have received less attention. We argue that, while minority shareholder rights protection in an investment location does not directly protect shareholder interests abroad, the normative and mimetic effects it has on host country managers can mitigate agency problems. Using Japanese FDI established between 1986 and 2013 we find that (a) subsidiaries established in host countries with higher shareholder rights protection employ a smaller proportion of Japanese expatriates, (b) shareholder rights protection enhances a country’s FDI attractiveness, and (c) …

Urban Utopia Or Pipe Dream? Examining Chinese-Invested Smart City Development In Southeast Asia, Yujia He, Angela Tritto

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

With increasing public–private partnership and international cooperation in smart city development across the Global South, Chinese firms are poised to take advantage of growing business opportunities, a situation that few studies have examined. This empirical case study of the Forest City, a Chinese-invested greenfield smart city project in Iskandar Malaysia, begins to fill that gap. This megaproject represents the coming together of overlapping economic development interests of the local authorities and the profit motivations of the Chinese investor. However, the project’s use of the ‘smart city’ discourse contrasts with the reality of limited technology adoption. Its visibility and considerable socio-economic …

The Financial Facet To Sino-African Cooperation: Analyzing Potential Motivations Behind Chinese Investment In African Countries, Jacob T. Carnevale

Political Science Theses and Capstones

China’s reputation transitioned from political isolation throughout the twentieth century to international influence in the twenty-first century. We see this in the continent of Africa, especially, where multiple countries experience political and economic hardships. Today, China invests in African countries to alleviate these hardships and strengthen foreign relations. Some scholars contend that much of China’s approach to foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa stems from China’s domestic interests, while other scholars contend it is more about relationship-building. Taking note that China does both, I ask which aspect to Sino-African relations primarily motivates Chinese lending in Africa. To analyze this question, …

Blue Economy And Collaborative Strategies: A Critique Of Multi-National Enterprises, Josephine Mabuti Nthia

Journal of Global Business Insights

The concept of blue economy has been advanced by many countries as a new economic frontier aimed at development and utilization of blue ocean resources. To effectively develop a blue economy, capital intensive infrastructure, human and intellectual resources are required although they have been found to vary between countries or regions due economic or natural endowments. A theoretical analysis of relevant theories including: Foreign Direct Investment and eclectic model, Transaction Cost, and Stakeholder theories was undertaken. Further, a critical conceptual analysis covering fifty-five articles on blue economy and collaborative strategies with multinational enterprises (MNEs) was conducted to in an attempt …

Examining The Relationship Between Environmental Regulations And Foreign Direct Investment Level: Evidence From China, Hadia Fakhreldin, Yomna Elsawy

Business Administration

This study examines the relationship between the environmental regulations and the FDI levels in China. The environmental regulation stringency is measured using emissions and other energy consumption data. The study is based on the pollution haven hypothesis and additionally applies direction of causality tests. The main objectives of the study are: to measure the environmental regulatory stringency and to identify the relationship between the application of the environmental restrictions and the level of FDI in China in the period from 1979–2013. The study adopts a quantitative approach; a correlation matrix, a multiple regression model, and granger causality are used first; …

Do Credit Ratings Matter? An Examination Of The Relationship Between Sovereign Ratings And Capital Flows Pre And Post Financial Crisis, Greg Violante

Economics Department Student Scholarship

This paper examines the relationship between sovereign credit ratings and international capital flows to emerging market economies (EMEs). More specifically, it analyzes how ratings impact capital flows (FDI and portfolio investment) before and after the 2007-2008 financial crisis. This study breaks the data into two samples, pre-crisis (1995-2006), and the post crisis (2007-2015). After using a System GMM method for 20 EMEs, the paper compares the pre- and post- financial crisis credit rating coefficients. The results indicate that the ratings have become more impactful overtime, for both FDI and portfolio investment, although the coefficients are not statistically different. Interestingly however, …

Benefits Of Foreign Ownership: Evidence From Foreign Direct Investment In China, Xiao Wang, Jian Wang

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

To examine the effect of foreign direct investment, this paper compares the post-acquisition performance changes of foreign- and domestic-acquired firms in China. Unlike previous studies, we investigate the purified effect of foreign ownership by using domestic-acquired firms as the control group. After controlling for the acquisition effect that exists in domestic acquisitions, we find no evidence that foreign ownership can bring additional productivity gains to target firms, though both foreign and domestic acquisitions bring productivity improvements to target firms. In contrast, a strong and robust finding is that foreign ownership significantly improves target firms' financial conditions and exports relative to …

Innovation Outcomes Of Knowledge-Seeking Chinese Foreign Direct Investment, Xianming Wu, Nathaniel C. Lupton, Yuping Du

Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigates how organizational learning, absorptive capacity, cultural integration, specialization of the acquired firm and characteristics of transferred knowledge impact innovation performance subsequent to overseas acquisitions.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey responses from 222 Chinese multinational enterprises engaged in overseas acquisitions.

Findings

Differences between acquiring and acquired firms’ capabilities, while having a positive direct influence, suppress the positive impact of organizational learning and absorptive capacity, suggesting that multinationals require some basic level of capabilities to appropriate value from overseas acquisitions.

Research limitations/implications

This paper investigates the impact of knowledge-seeking overseas acquisition of Chinese multinationals on innovation …

Foreign Investment In Eastern And Southern Europe After 2008. Still A Lever Of Growth?, Béla Galgóczi, Jan Drahokoupil, Magdalena Bernaciak, Petr Pavlinek

Faculty Books and Monographs

Editors:Béla Galgóczi,Jan Drahokoupil, and Magdalena Bernaciak

Chapter, Foreign direct investment and the development of the automotive industry in central and eastern Europe, authored by Petr Pavlinek, UNO faculty member.

This book investigates the role that foreign direct investment (FDI) in central-eastern and southern Europe has played in the post-crisis period, comparing patterns across countries and sectors.

An overarching objective of this publication is to assess the extent to which FDI can still be seen as a key driver of economic development, modernisation and convergence for Europe’s low- and middle-income economies, taking into account also the risks and limiting factors associated …

Characteristics And Performance Of Foreign Direct Investment In Retail Trade: The Case Of Japanese Firms, Jianping Liang, Jing'an Tang, Ben S. Liu

WCBT Faculty Publications

In the international business development, foreign direct investment (FDI) as a general phenomenon has been extensively studied, yet the understanding of particular characteristics of FDI in the retail industry remain limited. The success of international retail trade relies heavily on the understanding of consumers in the host countries. Therefore, this paper analyzed the characteristics and performance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail trade using the Japanese FDI data (JFDI) from 1986-2001 as a case. We found (1) an overall trend for JFDI to move from the developed countries to developing countries; (2) a modest correlation between subsidiary size and …

Impacts Of China’S Foreign Direct Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Jian Zhang, Ilan Alon, Yanan Chen

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the impacts of foreign direct investment, as well as China’s FDI on GDP growth of Sub-Saharan African countries from a macroeconomic perspective. By using the data from 44 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2003-2010, our GMM results show that neither China’s FDI nor FDI net inflow in SSA has significant effect on economic growth of SSA countries. The possible explanations about the insignificant results include crowding out effect of China’s FDI on domestic investment, the declining in outward FDI in traditional sectors and rising in service sector which ignored in the current model, and the types of sectors …

Adapting To Change: The State Of Singapore Private Enterprise In China, Wilfred How, Caroline Yeoh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

One of the most affluent and developed nations in its region, the city-state of Singapore relies largely on tapping global resources for economic growth, to ameliorate its tiny land area and accompanying lack of natural resources. Its current prominence is to a great degree owing to an early recognition of the need for such, and a well-documented stratagem of expanding its foreign direct investments (FDIs) as a means to stimulate economic development (Huff, 1995; Murray and Pereira, 1995) and strengthen the city-state’s ‘external economy’ - one which saw the island progress through a number of distinct phases of overseas investment …

A Study Of The Effects Of Foreign Direct Investment On The Economy Of The State Of New Hampshire Since 1973, Eric J. Allain

Honors Theses and Capstones

The purpose of the thesis is to determine the impact that foreign direct investment has had on New Hampshire. New Hampshire as a state was impacted far less severely than much of the rest of the country, which could be considered surprising given the relatively high cost of housing in the state. I believe that part of what made New Hampshire more recession resistant is having the right foreign companies providing employment. To do this, I will be looking at FDI as a percentage of GDP over the previous 40 years and looking for a correlation between a higher percentage …

Outward U.S. Foreign Direct Investment Performance During Recent Financial Crises, Lucyna Kornecki

Accounting, Economics, Finance, and Information Sciences - Daytona Beach

Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an extraordinary and growing role in the global markets and represents an integral part of the U.S. economy. This research has descriptive character and focuses on the latest trends in outward United States foreign direct investment (US FDI) illustrating the impact of the recent financial crises on FDI performance.

The study analyzes the outward US FDI stock contribution to the global FDI stock and its performance during the last decade including geographical and sectorial distribution. The next paragraph focuses on outward US FDI corporate players ranking MNC’s by revenue and foreign assets. The essential part …

Three Essays On Banking Foreign Direct Investment, Tamrat Workalemahu Gashaw

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates three aspects of banking foreign direct investment (BFDI). One striking development in the banking sector over the past two decades is the significant increase in BFDI. Multinational banks are now major players in the global financial system in terms of their asset positions, loan amounts, and operational scales. Despite this significant trend in BFDI, few empirical studies exist explaining observed international BFDI trends.

The first essay investigates the factors determining a bank’s decision to invest abroad. I first develop a two-asset portfolio selection model to identify determinant factors, and then employ a three-way error component model for …

Fdi In Central And Eastern Europe: Business Environment And Current Fdi Trends In Poland, Lucyna Kornecki

Accounting, Economics, Finance, and Information Sciences - Daytona Beach

The Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) acknowledge foreign direct investment (FDI) as an essential tool in the development and modernization of their economies. The first part of this paper centers on economic stability and FDI inflows in the CEE indicating the Polish leadership in inward FDI inflow. The section of this study focuses on Poland and provides a description of business environment and current FDI trends in Poland. It analyzes the factors influencing the inward FDI in Poland, such as: economic stability, cost of labor, EU membership, regulatory framework. It presents the current FDI trends in Poland, such as: …

The Impact Of Terrorism On Foreign Direct Investment: Which Sectors Are More Vulnerable?, Shivani Agrawal

CMC Senior Theses

The impact of conflict and violence on foreign direct investment (FDI) is not a topic that has been done justice by the literature, and what few studies exist have contradictory results. This paper studies the impact that transnational terrorism has on FDI inflows by economic sector, in developed countries. Results indicate a statistically significant negative correlation between terrorist events and total FDI inflows. Amongst a list of 12 broad industrial sectors, FDI inflows for manufacturing, trade and repair, and construction were found to have a statistically significant negative correlation with terrorist events.

30 Years Of Foreign Direct Investment To China: An Interdisciplinary Literature Review, Marc Fetscherin, Hinrich Voss, Philippe Gugler

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to examine how scholarly research on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the People’s Republic of China has evolved and been shaped using bibliometrics analysis of 422 journal articles published in 151 journals between 1979 and 2008 on that topic. The literature is dominated by the fields of Economics, followed by Business and Management, Planning and Development and International Relations, which together account for 95% of all publications. Ten percent of the most productive journals are responsible for 40% of all publications and 63% of all citations received. By means of citation mapping, four main …

Foreign Direct Investment And Macroeconomic Changes In Cee Integrating In To The Global Market, Lucyna Kornecki

Accounting, Economics, Finance, and Information Sciences - Daytona Beach

This study relates to the post communist era in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and focuses on foreign direct investment (FDI) as a factor facilitating the globalization process while stimulating economic growth in the host countries. The first part of this study describes the globalization process and inward FDI performance index (CEE vs. World). The second part reflects macroeconomic changes in the post communist CEE and examines macroeconomic indicators, including GDP per capita, economic growth rate, unemployment and inflation. The third section focuses on the association between inward FDI stock and economic growth in the CEE.

How Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect Growth In Developing Countries? An Empirical Investigation, E. M. Ekanayake, John R. Ledgerwood

Publications

This paper analyzes the effects of foreign direct investment on the economic growth of developing countries. The study uses annual data on a group of 85 developing countries covering Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean for the period 1980-2007. We explore the hypothesis that foreign direct investment can promote growth in developing countries. We test this hypothesis using panel data series for foreign direct investment, while accounting for regional differences in Asian, African, Latin American, and the Caribbean countries as well as the differences in income levels. While the findings of previous studies are generally mixed, our results …

Handbook For Promoting Foreign Direct Investment In Medium-Size, Low-Budget Cities In Emerging Markets, Vale Columbia Center On Sustainable International Investment, Millennium Cities Initiative

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Books

In November 2009, the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment and the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) released the Handbook for Promoting Foreign Direct Investment in Medium-size, Low-Budget Cities in Emerging Markets. With foreign direct investment (FDI) flows declining worldwide by an estimated 40-50% this year (following a decline of over 10% in 2008), investment promotion has become more important than ever: in a highly competitive world FDI market, promotion can make all the difference.

Investment promotion is particularly important for cities other than capital cities, as investors in manufacturing and services often locate primarily in a country’s capital …

An Analysis Of The Intra-Regional Trade In The Middle East And North Africa Region, E. M. Ekanayake, John R. Ledgerwood

Publications

This paper analyzes the intra-regional trade and investment flows in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region using an augmented gravity model applied to panel data. The study uses annual trade and investment data for the period 1980-2006. There is a growing awareness among countries in the MENA region regarding the importance of international trade and foreign direct investment for stimulating growth and integrating into the world economy. The research will attempt to achieve the following objectives: (a) analyze the intra-regional trade and investment flows in the MENA region; (b) identify the major determinants of trade and investment flows …

Which Exchange Rates Matter For Fdi? Evidence For Japan, Benjamin N. Dennis, Christopher A. Laincz, Lei Zhu

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Corruption, Foreign Direct Investment And The Cost Of Doing Business In Vietnam, Tom Arnold, Bonnie Buchanan

Finance Faculty Publications

Corruption is a key impediment to: foreign direct investment, an accurate measurement of political risk, and a barrier to effective corporate governance. By examining the political structure of Vietnam and the impediments created by corruption, this paper defines some of the difficulties with investing in Vietnam. However, with regard to the sugar industry, some solutions have emerged with companies taking direct control of contracting, offering credit, and the building of infrastructure.

The Subtlety Of Political Risk With Foreign Direct Investment: The Case Of The Vietnamese Sugar Industry, Tom Arnold, Bonnie Buchanan, Janice Lo

Finance Faculty Publications

Political risk entails more than a host country taking advantage of investment from foreign sources. A more subtle form of political risk is attributable to the host government's mismanagement of policies that may be intended to attract foreign direct investment, but may have unintended consequences. A perfect example is the ''One Million Tonne Sugar Program " sponsored by the government of Vietnam during the mid-1990s. What appears to be a very lucrative investment for foreign investors becomes a financial disaster due to the inability of the government to allocate resources efficiently and police its borders from smugglers.