IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iburev/v25y2016i1p319-332.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leadership positioning among U.S. firms investing in China

Author

Listed:
  • Wooster, Rossitza B.
  • Paul, Donna L.

Abstract

This study investigates leadership positioning by U.S. firms in China using the awareness, motivation, capability (AMC) perspective. We define leadership as first in industry to invest in China, and find that leaders have characteristics associated with higher AMC, evidenced by pre-existing multinational experience, higher product market orientation, smaller scale of operations, and higher input cost structure. Notably, the motivation to lower input costs and the prior capability in multinational operations mattered only for the first wave of firms leading industry investment earlier in time, while firms with smaller scale of operations exhibited a preference to lead investment in less popular provinces. Overall, these results provide a unique view on how AMC characteristics influence international investment decisions, suggesting that firms both strategically lead and strategically follow. In additional analysis, we examine how leaders and followers positioned themselves with respect to ownership, and find that leaders were more likely to choose entry modes that offered ownership control over flexibility, consistent with internalization theories.

Suggested Citation

  • Wooster, Rossitza B. & Paul, Donna L., 2016. "Leadership positioning among U.S. firms investing in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 319-332.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:25:y:2016:i:1:p:319-332
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2015.06.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593115300068
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2015.06.003?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Ji & Lam, Kevin C. K. & Karakowsky, Leonard & Qian, Gongming, 2003. "Firm resource and first mover advantages: A case of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 625-645, October.
    2. Salvador Gil-Pareja & Rafael-Llorca Vivero & Jordi Paniagua, 2013. "The effect of the great recession on foreign direct investment: global empirical evidence with a gravity approach," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(13), pages 1244-1248, September.
    3. Nick Bloom & Stephen Bond & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Uncertainty and Investment Dynamics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(2), pages 391-415.
    4. Sumantra Ghoshal, 1987. "Global strategy: An organizing framework," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(5), pages 425-440, September.
    5. Chandra S Mishra & David H Gobeli, 1998. "Managerial Incentives, Internalization, and Market Valuation of Multinational Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(3), pages 583-597, September.
    6. Jerayr (John) Haleblian & Gerry McNamara & Kalin Kolev & Bernadine J. Dykes, 2012. "Exploring firm characteristics that differentiate leaders from followers in industry merger waves: a competitive dynamics perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9), pages 1037-1052, September.
    7. Dixit, Avinash, 1980. "The Role of Investment in Entry-Deterrence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(357), pages 95-106, March.
    8. Will Mitchell, 1991. "Dual clocks: Entry order influences on incumbent and newcomer market share and survival when specialized assets retain their value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 85-100, February.
    9. Donna L Paul & Rossitza B Wooster, 2008. "Strategic investments by US firms in transition economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(2), pages 249-266, March.
    10. Yiannis E. Spanos & George Zaralis & Spyros Lioukas, 2004. "Strategy and industry effects on profitability: evidence from Greece," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 139-165, February.
    11. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    12. Mary Lambkin, 1988. "Order of entry and performance in new markets," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(S1), pages 127-140, June.
    13. Morck, Randall & Yeung, Bernard, 1991. "Why Investors Value Multinationality," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 165-187, April.
    14. Kogut, Bruce & Chang, Sea Jin, 1991. "Technological Capabilities and Japanese Foreign Direct Investment in the United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(3), pages 401-413, August.
    15. Daniel Shapiro & Yao Tang & Cathy Xuejing, 2007. "Mode of Entry and the Regional Distribution of Foreign Direct Investment in China," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(3), pages 261-277.
    16. Amiti, Mary & Smarzynska Javorcik, Beata, 2008. "Trade costs and location of foreign firms in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1-2), pages 129-149, February.
    17. Rebecca N. Hann & Maria Ogneva & Oguzhan Ozbas, 2013. "Corporate Diversification and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(5), pages 1961-1999, October.
    18. Gao, Ting, 2005. "Labor quality and the location of foreign direct investment: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 274-292.
    19. Gary L. Lilien & Eunsang Yoon, 1990. "The Timing of Competitive Market Entry: An Exploratory Study of New Industrial Products," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(5), pages 568-585, May.
    20. Sun, Sunny Li & Peng, Mike W. & Lee, Ruby P. & Tan, Weiqiang, 2015. "Institutional open access at home and outward internationalization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 234-246.
    21. Christopher F. Baum & Mustafa Caglayan & Oleksandr Talavera, 2010. "On the sensitivity of firms' investment to cash flow and uncertainty," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 62(2), pages 286-306, April.
    22. Tom Cottrell & Gordon Sick, 2001. "First‐Mover (Dis) Advantage And Real Options," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 14(2), pages 41-51, June.
    23. Cui, Lin & Meyer, Klaus E. & Hu, Helen Wei, 2014. "What drives firms’ intent to seek strategic assets by foreign direct investment? A study of emerging economy firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 488-501.
    24. Sun, Qian & Tong, Wilson & Yu, Qiao, 2002. "Determinants of foreign direct investment across China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 79-113, February.
    25. 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.
    26. Pindyck, Robert S, 1991. "Irreversibility, Uncertainty, and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 1110-1148, September.
    27. Matthew Cole & Robert Elliott & Jing Zhang, 2009. "Corruption, Governance and FDI Location in China: A Province-Level Analysis," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(9), pages 1494-1512.
    28. Sea-Jin Chang & Jay Hyuk Rhee, 2011. "Rapid FDI expansion and firm performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(8), pages 979-994, October.
    29. repec:bla:econom:v:38:y:1971:i:149:p:1-27 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Schmalensee, Richard, 1982. "Product Differentiation Advantages of Pioneering Brands," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 349-365, June.
    31. M Krishna Erramilli, 1991. "The Experience Factor in Foreign Market Entry Behavior of Service Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(3), pages 479-501, September.
    32. Edward C. Prescott & Michael Visscher, 1977. "Sequential Location among Firms with Foresight," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 8(2), pages 378-393, Autumn.
    33. repec:fth:michin:282 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Vibha Gaba & Yigang Pan & Gerardo R Ungson, 2002. "Timing of Entry in International Market: An Empirical Study of U.S. Fortune 500 Firms in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(1), pages 39-55, March.
    35. Norifumi Kawai, 2009. "Location Strategies of Foreign Investors in China: Evidence from Japanese Manufacturing Multinationals," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 117-141.
    36. Edward M. Graham & Erika Wada, 2001. "Foreign Direct Investment in China: Effects on Growth and Economic Performance," Working Paper Series WP01-3, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    37. Olav Sorenson, 2000. "Letting the market work for you: an evolutionary perspective on product strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 577-592, May.
    38. Danchi Tan & Klaus E Meyer, 2011. "Country-of-origin and industry FDI agglomeration of foreign investors in an emerging economy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(4), pages 504-520, May.
    39. Pietra Rivoli & Eugene Salorio, 1996. "Foreign Direct Investment and Investment under Uncertainty," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(2), pages 335-357, June.
    40. Kevin Zheng Zhou & David K Tse & Julie Juan Li, 2006. "Organizational changes in emerging economies: drivers and consequences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(2), pages 248-263, March.
    41. Esther Gal-Or, 1987. "First Mover Disadvantages with Private Information," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 54(2), pages 279-292.
    42. Jean-Luc Arrègle & Toyah Miller & Michael Hitt & Paul Beamish, 2013. "Do regions matter? An integrated institutional and semiglobalisation perspective on the internationalization of MNEs," Post-Print hal-02313035, HAL.
    43. A. M. Spence, 1981. "The Learning Curve and Competition," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(1), pages 49-70, Spring.
    44. Yigang Pan & Shaomin Li & David K Tse, 1999. "The Impact of Order and Mode of Market Entry on Profitability and Market Share," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(1), pages 81-103, March.
    45. Rahim Quazi, 2007. "Economic Freedom and Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 329-344.
    46. Steven Klepper & Kenneth L. Simons, 2000. "Dominance by birthright: entry of prior radio producers and competitive ramifications in the U.S. television receiver industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 997-1016, October.
    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. Nelaeva, Alena & Nilssen, Frode, 2022. "Contrasting knowledge development for internationalization among emerging and advanced economy firms: A review and future research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 232-256.

    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. Hitt, Michael A. & Li, Dan & Xu, Kai, 2016. "International strategy: From local to global and beyond," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 58-73.
    2. Nielsen, Bo Bernhard & Asmussen, Christian Geisler & Weatherall, Cecilie Dohlmann, 2017. "The location choice of foreign direct investments: Empirical evidence and methodological challenges," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 62-82.
    3. Rossitza B. Wooster & David Banis & Ayesha Khalid, 2016. "A geographic view of expansion choices by U.S. firms in China," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 33-58, January.
    4. Ruiz-Ortega, Mari­a José & Garci­a-Villaverde, Pedro Manuel, 2008. "Capabilities and competitive tactics influences on performance: Implications of the moment of entry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 332-345, April.
    5. Chia-Wen Hsu & Homin Chen, 2009. "Foreign Direct Investment and Capability Development," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 585-605, October.
    6. Wooster, Rossitza B. & Blanco, Luisa & Sawyer, W. Charles, 2016. "Equity commitment under uncertainty: A hierarchical model of real option entry mode choices," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 382-394.
    7. Li, Ji & Lam, Kevin C. K. & Karakowsky, Leonard & Qian, Gongming, 2003. "Firm resource and first mover advantages: A case of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 625-645, October.
    8. Danchi Tan & Weichieh Su & Joseph T. Mahoney & Yasemin Kor, 2020. "A review of research on the growth of multinational enterprises: A Penrosean lens," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 498-537, June.
    9. Sels, A.T.H., 2006. "Foreign direct investment as an entry mode. An application in emerging economies," Other publications TiSEM 583ca9b5-1691-425d-8f77-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    10. García-Villaverde, Pedro M. & Ruiz-Ortega, María J. & Parra-Requena, Gloria, 2012. "Towards a comprehensive model of entry timing in the ICT industry: Direct and indirect effects," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 297-310.
    11. Christina Guenther, 2009. "Pioneer burnout: Radical product innovation and firm capabilities," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2009-22, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    12. Hsu, Chia-Wen & Chen, Homin & Caskey, D’Arcy, 2017. "Local conditions, entry timing, and foreign subsidiary performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 544-554.
    13. Fernando F. Suarez & Stine Grodal & Aleksios Gotsopoulos, 2015. "Perfect timing? Dominant category, dominant design, and the window of opportunity for firm entry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 437-448, March.
    14. Régis Coeurderoy & Rodolphe Durand, 2001. "La cohérence des choix stratégiques:l'impact des décisions d'entrée et des stratégies génériques sur la performance organisationnelle des firmes," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 4(3), pages 57-88, September.
    15. Niccolò Pisani & Ans Kolk & Václav Ocelík & Ganling Wu, 2019. "Does it pay for cities to be green? An investigation of FDI inflows and environmental sustainability," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 2(1), pages 62-85, March.
    16. Mascarenhas, Briance, 1997. "The order and size of entry into international markets," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 287-299, July.
    17. Fan, Di & Cui, Lin & Li, Yi & Zhu, Cherrie J., 2016. "Localized learning by emerging multinational enterprises in developed host countries: A fuzzy-set analysis of Chinese foreign direct investment in Australia," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 187-203.
    18. Himme, Alexander, 2005. "Der Einfluss der Markteintrittsreihenfolge auf den Unternehmenserfolg: Eine Zusammenfassung empirischer Arbeiten und Leitlinien für die weitere Forschung auf diesem Gebiet," Manuskripte aus den Instituten für Betriebswirtschaftslehre der Universität Kiel 600, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre.
    19. Hongxin Zhao & Chin-Chun Hsu, 2007. "Social ties and foreign market entry: An empirical inquiry," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 815-844, December.
    20. Kendall, Ryan, 2021. "Sequential competitions with a middle-mover advantage," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    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:eee:iburev:v:25:y:2016:i:1:p:319-332. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/133/description#description .

    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.