IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/sjobre/v57y2005i4d10.1007_bf03372768.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internationale Standortverlagerung und Mitarbeiterproduktivität: Eine empirische Untersuchung deutscher Industrieunternehmen

Author

Listed:
  • Winfried Ruigrok

    (Universität St. Gallen)

  • Hardy Wagner

    (Universität St. Gallen)

Abstract

Summary Although there are numerous empirical examinations of the relationship between foreign direct investment and corporate performance, researchers to date have not been able to reach a consensus on findings. In this article, we report the results of an inquiry into the relationship between foreign direct investment and operational performance (i.e., labour productivity). Our findings indicate that a U-curve best reflects the form of the relationship and that the curve’s inflection point is dependent on firms’ industrial membership. In conceptual terms, these results lend support to organizational learning theory. By relocating production facilities worldwide, firms can reap labour cost advantages. However, international production relocation can also come along with an employee qualification disadvantage that requires costly and time-consuming workforce training. Therefore, managers should aim for including both productivity components (i.e., labour costs and employee qualification) into their relocation decision-making process. Only then can the strategic instrument ‘international production relocation’ foster sustainable corporate success.

Suggested Citation

  • Winfried Ruigrok & Hardy Wagner, 2005. "Internationale Standortverlagerung und Mitarbeiterproduktivität: Eine empirische Untersuchung deutscher Industrieunternehmen," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 310-324, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sjobre:v:57:y:2005:i:4:d:10.1007_bf03372768
    DOI: 10.1007/BF03372768
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF03372768
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/BF03372768?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lenn Gomes & Kannan Ramaswamy, 1999. "An Empirical Examination of the Form of the Relationship Between Multinationality and Performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(1), pages 173-187, March.
    2. Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2000. "Globalisierung der Automobilindustrie: neue Standorte auf dem Vormarsch, traditionelle Anbieter unter Druck?," Kiel Working Papers 1002, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Daniel Sullivan, 1994. "Measuring the Degree of Internationalization of a Firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(2), pages 325-342, June.
    4. Mariam Khawar, 2003. "Productivity and foreign direct investment – evidence from Mexico," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(1), pages 66-76, February.
    5. Torsten J. Gerpott & Andreas Walter, 1999. "Internationale Diversifikation, F&E-Intensität und Erfolg von großen Industrieunternehmen," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 51(12), pages 1100-1122, December.
    6. Liu, Xiaming & Parker, David & Vaidya, Kirit & Wei, Yingqi, 2001. "The impact of foreign direct investment on labour productivity in the Chinese electronics industry," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 421-439, August.
    7. Peter Egger & Michael Pfaffermayr, 2001. "A note on labour productivity and foreign inward direct investment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 229-232.
    8. Mehrene Larudee & Tim Koechlin, 1999. "Wages, Productivity, and Foreign Direct Investment Flows," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 419-426, June.
    9. Farok J Contractor & Sumit K Kundu & Chin-Chun Hsu, 2003. "A three-stage theory of international expansion: the link between multinationality and performance in the service sector," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(1), pages 5-18, January.
    10. George P. Huber, 1991. "Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 88-115, February.
    11. Joachim Funk, 1998. "Mannesmann im Trend globaler Märkte und internationaler Arbeitsteilung —," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 183-196, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wagner, Hardy, 2004. "Internationalization speed and cost efficiency: evidence from Germany," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 447-463, August.
    2. Christian Genthon, 2008. "International diversification, performance and offshoring : the case of the computer services industry," Post-Print halshs-00348198, HAL.
    3. Marzanna K. Witek-Hajduk, 2013. "Wczesne umiędzynarodowienie a wyniki ekonomiczne przedsiębiorstwa," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 11-12, pages 73-92.
    4. Bobillo, Alfredo M. & López-Iturriaga, Felix & Tejerina-Gaite, Fernando, 2010. "Firm performance and international diversification: The internal and external competitive advantages," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 607-618, December.
    5. Lívia Lopes Barakat & Torben Pedersen & Marcio Amaral-Baptista & Sherban Leornardo Cretoiu & Paulo Bento, 2022. "Too Much of Two Good Things: Explicating the Limited Complementarity Between Drivers of MNC Headquarters’ Absorptive Capacity," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 393-426, June.
    6. Wang, Chi-Feng & Chen, Li-Yu & Chang, Shao-Chi, 2011. "International diversification and the market value of new product introduction," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 333-347.
    7. Jean-François Hennart, 2007. "The theoretical rationale for a multinationality-performance relationship," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 423-452, June.
    8. Tsai, Huei-Ting, 2014. "Moderators on international diversification of advanced emerging market firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 1243-1248.
    9. Andreas Bausch & Mario Krist, 2007. "The effect of context-related moderators on the internationalization-performance relationship: Evidence from meta-analysis," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 319-347, June.
    10. Hashai, Niron & Zahra, Shaker A., 2022. "A double-edged sword? Founder Teams' Prior International Experience and INV International Scale-up," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(2).
    11. Contractor, Farok J. & Kumar, Vikas & Kundu, Sumit K., 2007. "Nature of the relationship between international expansion and performance: The case of emerging market firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 401-417, December.
    12. Martin Glaum & Michael-Jörg Oesterle, 2007. "40 years of research on internationalization and firm performance: More questions than answers?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 307-317, June.
    13. Wang, Zhimin & Mathur, Ike, 2011. "Return on capital analysis: U.S.-based multinational corporations versus U.S. domestic corporations," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 191-207, October.
    14. Nguyen, Quyen T.K. & Kim, Sylvia, 2020. "The multinationality and performance relationship: Revisiting the literature and exploring the implications," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    15. Verbeke, Alain & Brugman, Paul, 2009. "Triple-testing the quality of multinationality-performance research: An internalization theory perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 265-275, June.
    16. Hosseini, Mojtaba & Brege, Staffan & Nord, Tomas, 2018. "A combined focused industry and company size investigation of the internationalization-performance relationship: The case of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the Swedish wood manufactu," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 110-121.
    17. Hsu, Chin-Chun & Pereira, Arun, 2008. "Internationalization and performance: The moderating effects of organizational learning," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 188-205, April.
    18. Cesinger, Beate & Hughes, Mathew & Mensching, Helge & Bouncken, Ricarda & Fredrich, Viktor & Kraus, Sascha, 2016. "A socioemotional wealth perspective on how collaboration intensity, trust, and international market knowledge affect family firms’ multinationality," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 586-599.
    19. Buigues, Pierre-André & Lacoste, Denis & Lavigne, Stéphanie, 2015. "When over internationalized companies reduce their international footprint," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1039-1047.
    20. Makus, C. & Heyder, M. & Theuvsen, L., 2012. "Der Zusammenhang von Internationalisierung und Unternehmenserfolg am Beispiel führender europäischer Genossenschaften der Molkerei und Fleischwirtschaft," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 47, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    D24; F20; F21; F23; J24; J31; M11; O47;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • F20 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - General
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    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:spr:sjobre:v:57:y:2005:i:4:d:10.1007_bf03372768. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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.springer.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.