IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/corgov/v15y2007i6p1330-1347.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate Governance and International Location Decisions of Multinational Enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Lammertjan Dam
  • Bert Scholtens
  • Elmer Sterken

Abstract

This paper analyses international location decisions of corporations based on corporate governance considerations. Using firm level data on 540 Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) with 44,149 subsidiaries in 188 countries, we test whether firms with relatively good governance standards are more often located in countries with a weak governance system. We find empirical support for this hypothesis, especially for those corporations present in low‐income countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Lammertjan Dam & Bert Scholtens & Elmer Sterken, 2007. "Corporate Governance and International Location Decisions of Multinational Enterprises," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 1330-1347, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:corgov:v:15:y:2007:i:6:p:1330-1347
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8683.2007.00649.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8683.2007.00649.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8683.2007.00649.x?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. Whited, Toni M, 1992. "Debt, Liquidity Constraints, and Corporate Investment: Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1425-1460, September.
    2. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2005. "Governance matters IV : governance indicators for 1996-2004," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3630, The World Bank.
    3. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    4. Roberto Basile & Davide Castellani & Antonello Zanfei, 2003. "Location choices of multinational firms in Europe: the role of national boundaries and EU policy," International Trade 0310001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    6. Levine, Ross & Zervos, Sara, 1998. "Stock Markets, Banks, and Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 537-558, June.
    7. Aggarwal, Rajesh K. & Samwick, Andrew A., 2006. "Empire-builders and shirkers: Investment, firm performance, and managerial incentives," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 489-515, June.
    8. Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "How Taxing is Corruption on International Investors?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(1), pages 1-11, February.
    9. Bruce A. Blonigen, 2019. "Firm-Specific Assets and the Link Between Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 3, pages 89-120, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:537-600 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Hideki Yamawaki, 2006. "The location of American and Japanese multinationals in Europe," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 157-173, November.
    12. Laszlo Tihanyi & David A Griffith & Craig J Russell, 2005. "The effect of cultural distance on entry mode choice, international diversification, and MNE performance: a meta-analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(3), pages 270-283, May.
    13. Bernanke, Ben & Gertler, Mark, 1989. "Agency Costs, Net Worth, and Business Fluctuations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 14-31, March.
    14. James R. Markusen, 1995. "The Boundaries of Multinational Enterprises and the Theory of International Trade," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 169-189, Spring.
    15. Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden, 1995. "Long-Term Contracts, Short-Term Investment and Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(4), pages 557-575.
    16. Thomas P. Murtha & Stefanie Ann Lenway, 1994. "Country capabilities and the strategic state: How national political institutions affect multinational Corporations' Strategies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S2), pages 113-129, June.
    17. David P. Baron, 2001. "Private Politics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Integrated Strategy," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 7-45, March.
    18. Bruce Blonigen, 2005. "A Review of the Empirical Literature on FDI Determinants," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(4), pages 383-403, December.
    19. Desai, Mihir A. & Foley, C. Fritz & Hines, James Jr., 2004. "Foreign direct investment in a world of multiple taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 2727-2744, December.
    20. Jean J Boddewyn, 1988. "Political Aspects of MNE Theory," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 341-363, September.
    21. Thomas L Brewer, 1992. "An Issue-Area Approach to the Analysis of MNE-Government Relations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(2), pages 295-309, June.
    22. Jensen, Nathan M., 2003. "Democratic Governance and Multinational Corporations: Political Regimes and Inflows of Foreign Direct Investment," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(3), pages 587-616, July.
    23. Wheeler, David & Mody, Ashoka, 1992. "International investment location decisions : The case of U.S. firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1-2), pages 57-76, August.
    24. Jean Tirole, 2006. "The Theory of Corporate Finance," Post-Print hal-00173191, HAL.
    25. Li, Quan & Resnick, Adam, 2003. "Reversal of Fortunes: Democratic Institutions and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows to Developing Countries," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(1), pages 175-211, January.
    26. René Belderbos, 1997. "Antidumping and tariff Jumping: Japanese firms’ DFI in the European union and the United States," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 133(3), pages 419-457, September.
    27. Letchumanan, Raman & Kodama, Fumio, 2000. "Reconciling the conflict between the 'pollution-haven' hypothesis and an emerging trajectory of international technology transfer," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 59-79, January.
    28. Matthias Busse, 2004. "Transnational Corporations and Repression of Political Rights and Civil Liberties: An Empirical Analysis," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 45-65, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Roger Strange & Igor Filatotchev & Yung-chih Lien & Jenifer Piesse, 2009. "Insider Control and the FDI Location Decision," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 433-454, September.
    2. Lammertjan Dam & Bert Scholtens, 2013. "Ownership Concentration and CSR Policy of European Multinational Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 117-126, November.
    3. Andre Carvalhal, 2014. "Do internationalized companies have better governance? Lessons from Brazil," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(10), pages 679-690, May.
    4. Ibrahim Khalifa Elmghaamez & Jacinta Nwachukwu & Collins G. Ntim, 2024. "ESG disclosure and financial performance of multinational enterprises: The moderating effect of board standing committees," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 3593-3638, July.
    5. Alessandro Zattoni & Emmanouil Dedoulis & Stergios Leventis & Hans Van Ees, 2020. "Corporate governance and institutions—A review and research agenda," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 465-487, November.

    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. Bailey, Nicholas, 2018. "Exploring the relationship between institutional factors and FDI attractiveness: A meta-analytic review," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 139-148.
    2. Fathi Ali & Norbert Fiess & Ronald MacDonald, 2010. "Do Institutions Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 201-219, April.
    3. Busse, Matthias & Hefeker, Carsten, 2007. "Political risk, institutions and foreign direct investment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 397-415, June.
    4. Akhtaruzzaman, M. & Berg, Nathan & Hajzler, Christopher, 2017. "Expropriation risk and FDI in developing countries: Does return of capital dominate return on capital?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 84-107.
    5. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Khalid Sekkat, 2007. "Revisiting the relationship between governance and foreign direct investment," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 50(1), pages 41-61.
    6. Basu, Debarati & Mitra, Shabana & Purohit, Archana, 2023. "Does effective democracy explain MNE location choice?: Attractiveness to FDI and cross-border M&As," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    7. Buchanan, Bonnie G. & Le, Quan V. & Rishi, Meenakshi, 2012. "Foreign direct investment and institutional quality: Some empirical evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 81-89.
    8. Bruce Blonigen, 2005. "A Review of the Empirical Literature on FDI Determinants," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(4), pages 383-403, December.
    9. Andreia Olival, 2012. "The influence of Doing Business’ institutional variables in Foreign Direct Investment," GEE Papers 0048, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Dec 2012.
    10. Mohsin Hasnain Ahmad & Qazi Masood Ahmed, 2014. "Does the Institutional Quality Matter to Attract the Foreign Direct Investment? An Empirical Investigation for Pakistan," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 15(1), pages 55-70, March.
    11. Akisik, Orhan, 2020. "The impact of financial development, IFRS, and rule of LAW on foreign investments: A cross-country analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 815-838.
    12. Mukherjee, Deepraj & Dutta, Nabamita, 2018. "What determines governance across nations: Do economic and social globalization play a role?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 103-113.
    13. Uddin, Moshfique & Chowdhury, Anup & Zafar, Sheeba & Shafique, Sujana & Liu, Jia, 2019. "Institutional determinants of inward FDI: Evidence from Pakistan," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 344-358.
    14. Tag, Mehmet Nasih, 2021. "Judicial institutions of property rights protection and foreign direct investment inflows," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Konstantinos Dellis, 2018. "Financial development and FDI flows: evidence from advanced economies," Working Papers 254, Bank of Greece.
    16. Mumtaz Hussain Shah & Anum Gul Afridi, 2015. "Significance of Good Governance for FDI Inflows in SAARC Countries," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 7(2), pages 31-52, October.
    17. Ross Levine & Norman Loayza & Thorsten Beck, 2002. "Financial Intermediation and Growth: Causality and Causes," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Leonardo Hernández & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Se (ed.),Banking, Financial Integration, and International Crises, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 031-084, Central Bank of Chile.
    18. Silvio Traverso & Guido Bonatti, 2015. "Education and FDI: An Insight from US Outflows," Journal of Social Economics, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 2(3), pages 101-116.
    19. Estrin, Saul & Meyer, Klaus E. & Nielsen, Bo B. & Nielsen, Sabina, 2016. "Home country institutions and the internationalization of state owned enterprises: A cross-country analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 294-307.
    20. Geleilate, José-Mauricio G. & Magnusson, Peter & Parente, Ronaldo C. & Alvarado-Vargas, Marcelo J., 2016. "Home Country Institutional Effects on the Multinationality–Performance Relationship: A Comparison Between Emerging and Developed Market Multinationals," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 380-402.

    More about this item

    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:bla:corgov:v:15:y:2007:i:6:p:1330-1347. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0964-8410&site=1 .

    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.