Does it matter where countries are? Proximity to knowledge, markets and resources, and MNE location choices

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Nachum, Lilach; Zaheer, Srilata; Gross, Shulamith
• 署名单位: City University of New York (CUNY) System; Baruch College (CUNY); University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1080.0865
• 发表日期: 2008
• 页码: 1252-1265
• 关键词: multinational enterprise location choice; countries' proximity to the world; distance; proximity to knowledge; markets and resources; sandwich estimators

摘要

W e suggest that the proximity of a country to other countries is a factor that affects its choice as a multinational enterprise (MNE) location. We introduce the concept of a country's proximity to the global distribution of knowledge, markets, and resources, and frame this concept as a function of both geographic distance and the worldwide spatial distribution of these factors. We test our location model on a data set comprising 138,050 investments undertaken by U. S. MNEs worldwide. Our findings show that the proximity of a country to the rest of the world has a positive impact on MNEs choosing that country as a location. Proximity to the world's knowledge and markets are stronger drivers of location choice than is proximity to the world's resources, after accounting for the country's own endowments. Larger firms are able to benefit more from remote locations than smaller firms are.