IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v54y2008i7p1252-1265.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does It Matter Where Countries Are? Proximity to Knowledge, Markets and Resources, and MNE Location Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Lilach Nachum

    (Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, New York 10010)

  • Srilata Zaheer

    (Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455)

  • Shulamith Gross

    (Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, New York 10010)

Abstract

We 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Lilach Nachum & Srilata Zaheer & Shulamith Gross, 2008. "Does It Matter Where Countries Are? Proximity to Knowledge, Markets and Resources, and MNE Location Choices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(7), pages 1252-1265, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:54:y:2008:i:7:p:1252-1265
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1080.0865
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1080.0865
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.1080.0865?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. Michael Storper & Anthony J. Venables, 2004. "Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 351-370, August.
    2. Wilbur Chung & Juan Alcácer, 2002. "Knowledge Seeking and Location Choice of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(12), pages 1534-1554, December.
    3. Brainard, S Lael, 1997. "An Empirical Assessment of the Proximity-Concentration Trade-off between Multinational Sales and Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 520-544, September.
    4. Kim, E. Han & Morse, Adair & Zingales, Luigi, 2009. "Are elite universities losing their competitive edge?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 353-381, September.
    5. Bartik, Timothy J, 1985. "Business Location Decisions in the United States: Estimates of the Effects of Unionization, Taxes, and Other Characteristics of States," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 3(1), pages 14-22, January.
    6. Portes, Richard & Rey, Helene, 2005. "The determinants of cross-border equity flows," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 269-296, March.
    7. Edward E Leamer & Michael Storper, 2001. "The Economic Geography of the Internet Age," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(4), pages 641-665, December.
    8. Lori Rosenkopf & Paul Almeida, 2003. "Overcoming Local Search Through Alliances and Mobility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(6), pages 751-766, June.
    9. Jennifer W. Spencer, 2003. "Firms' knowledge‐sharing strategies in the global innovation system: empirical evidence from the flat panel display industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 217-233, March.
    10. David L. Carr & James R. Markusen & Keith E. Maskus, 2021. "Estimating The Knowledge-Capital Model of the Multinational Enterprise," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 5, pages 95-110, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Head, Keith & Ries, John & Swenson, Deborah, 1995. "Agglomeration benefits and location choice: Evidence from Japanese manufacturing investments in the United States," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 223-247, May.
    12. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "Government Ownership of Banks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 265-301, February.
    13. Bruce A. Blonigen & Ronald B. Davies & Glen R. Waddell & Helen T. Naughton, 2019. "FDI in Space: Spatial Autoregressive Relationships in Foreign Direct Investment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 2, pages 55-88, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Paul Almeida & Bruce Kogut, 1999. "Localization of Knowledge and the Mobility of Engineers in Regional Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(7), pages 905-917, July.
    15. Richard Paap & Philip Hans Franses, 2000. "A dynamic multinomial probit model for brand choice with different long-run and short-run effects of marketing-mix variables," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(6), pages 717-744.
    16. J. Myles Shaver & Fredrick Flyer, 2000. "Agglomeration economies, firm heterogeneity, and foreign direct investment in the United States," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(12), pages 1175-1193, December.
    17. Rugman,Alan M., 2005. "The Regional Multinationals," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521842655, September.
    18. Africa Ariño & Pankaj Ghemawat & Joan E. Ricart, 2004. "Introduction: International Strategy and Location Specificity," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Africa Ariño & Pankaj Ghemawat & Joan E. Ricart (ed.), Creating Value through International Strategy, chapter 1, pages 1-17, Palgrave Macmillan.
    19. Ellison, Glenn & Glaeser, Edward L, 1997. "Geographic Concentration in U.S. Manufacturing Industries: A Dartboard Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 889-927, October.
    20. Joshua D. Coval & Tobias J. Moskowitz, 2001. "The Geography of Investment: Informed Trading and Asset Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(4), pages 811-841, August.
    21. Gaspar, Jess & Glaeser, Edward L., 1998. "Information Technology and the Future of Cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 136-156, January.
    22. Laura Alfaro & Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Vadym Volosovych, 2008. "Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries? An Empirical Investigation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 347-368, May.
    23. Tarun Khanna & Joe Kogan & Krishna Palepu, 2006. "Globalization and Similarities in Corporate Governance: A Cross-Country Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 69-90, February.
    24. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    25. Head, Keith & Ries, John, 1996. "Inter-City Competition for Foreign Investment: Static and Dynamic Effects of China's Incentive Areas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 38-60, July.
    26. Wolfgang Keller, 2002. "Geographic Localization of International Technology Diffusion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 120-142, March.
    27. Redding, Stephen & Schott, Peter K., 2003. "Distance, skill deepening and development: will peripheral countries ever get rich?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 515-541, December.
    28. Mark Grinblatt & Matti Keloharju, 2001. "How Distance, Language, and Culture Influence Stockholdings and Trades," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 1053-1073, June.
    29. C Samuel Craig & Susan P Douglas & Andreas Grein, 1992. "Patterns of Convergence and Divergence Among Industrialized Nations: 1960-1988," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(4), pages 773-787, December.
    30. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2002. "Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1231-1294.
    31. Branstetter, Lee G., 2001. "Are knowledge spillovers international or intranational in scope?: Microeconometric evidence from the U.S. and Japan," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 53-79, February.
    32. Theodore H. Moran & Edward M. Graham & Magnus Blomstrom, 2005. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Promote Development?," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 3810, January.
    33. Adair Morse, 2006. "Are elite universities losing their competitive edge?," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    34. George R. Parsons & A. Brett Hauber, 1998. "Spatial Boundaries and Choice Set Definition in a Random Utility Model of Recreation Demand," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 74(1), pages 32-48.
    35. James R. Markusen & Keith E. Maskus, 2002. "Discriminating Among Alternative Theories of the Multinational Enterprise," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(4), pages 694-707, November.
    36. Robert M. Salomon & J. Myles Shaver, 2005. "Learning by Exporting: New Insights from Examining Firm Innovation," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 431-460, June.
    37. Baltagi, Badi H. & Egger, Peter & Pfaffermayr, Michael, 2007. "Estimating models of complex FDI: Are there third-country effects?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 260-281, September.
    38. Read, Robert, 2004. "The Implications of Increasing Globalization and Regionalism for the Economic Growth of Small Island States," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 365-378, February.
    39. Wolfgang Keller, 2004. "International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 752-782, September.
    40. Elaine Mosakowski & Srilata Zaheer, 1999. "The Global Configuration of a Speculative Trading Operation: An Empirical Study of Foreign Exchange Trading," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 401-423, August.
    41. Juan Alcácer & Wilbur Chung, 2007. "Location Strategies and Knowledge Spillovers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(5), pages 760-776, May.
    42. Akbar Zaheer & Srilata Zaheer, 1997. "Catching the Wave: Alertness, Responsiveness, and Market Influence in Global Electronic Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(11), pages 1493-1509, November.
    43. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2002. "Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2533-2570, December.
    44. Juan Alcácer, 2006. "Location Choices Across the Value Chain: How Activity and Capability Influence Collocation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(10), pages 1457-1471, October.
    45. Lilach Nachum & Srilata Zaheer, 2005. "The persistence of distance? The impact of technology on MNE motivations for foreign investment," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 747-767, August.
    46. Marshall Van Alstyne & Erik Brynjolfsson, 2005. "Global Village or Cyber-Balkans? Modeling and Measuring the Integration of Electronic Communities," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(6), pages 851-868, June.
    47. Jacques Poot (ed.), 2004. "On the Edge of the Global Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2913.
    48. Lilach Nachum & Cliff Wymbs, 2005. "Product differentiation, external economies and MNE location choices: M&As in Global Cities," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(4), pages 415-434, July.
    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. 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.
    2. Kafouros, Mario I. & Buckley, Peter J. & Clegg, Jeremy, 2012. "The effects of global knowledge reservoirs on the productivity of multinational enterprises: The role of international depth and breadth," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 848-861.
    3. Stephen J. Redding, 2013. "Economic Geography: A Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Daniel Bernhofen & Rod Falvey & David Greenaway & Udo Kreickemeier (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of International Trade, chapter 16, pages 497-531, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Heather Berry & Aseem Kaul, 2015. "Global Sourcing and Foreign Knowledge Seeking," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(5), pages 1052-1071, May.
    5. Ren� Belderbos & Dieter Somers, 2015. "Do Technology Leaders Deter Inward R&D Investments? Evidence from Regional R&D Location Decisions in Europe," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(11), pages 1805-1821, November.
    6. Pengfei Li & Harald Bathelt, 2018. "Location strategy in cluster networks," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(8), pages 967-989, October.
    7. Hyuk-Soo Kwon & Jihong Lee & Sokbae Lee & Ryungha Oh, 2022. "Knowledge spillovers and patent citations: trends in geographic localization, 1976–2015," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 123-147, April.
    8. Richard Baldwin & Toshihiro Okubo, 2014. "Networked FDI: Sales and Sourcing Patterns of Japanese Foreign Affiliates," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1051-1080, August.
    9. Blondiau, Yuliya & Reuter, Emmanuelle, 2019. "Why is the grass greener on the other side? Decision modes and location choice by wind energy investors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 44-55.
    10. Rachel Griffith & Sokbae Lee & John Van Reenen, 2011. "Is distance dying at last? Falling home bias in fixed‐effects models of patent citations," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 2(2), pages 211-249, July.
    11. Yuri Jo & Chang-Yang Lee, 2014. "Technological Capability, Agglomeration Economies and Firm Location Choice," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(8), pages 1337-1352, August.
    12. Beate Henschel & Christian Leßmann & Anna Sophie Müller & Joachim Ragnitz & Michael Reinhard & Beate Schirwitz & Heinz Schmalholz & Marcel Thum, 2008. "Rechtfertigung von Ansiedlungssubventionen am Beispiel der Halbleiterindustrie : Gutachten im Auftrag der Sächsischen Staatskanzlei," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 45.
    13. Contigiani, Andrea & Testoni, Marco, 2023. "Geographic isolation, trade secrecy, and innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(8).
    14. Juan Alcácer, 2006. "Location Choices Across the Value Chain: How Activity and Capability Influence Collocation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(10), pages 1457-1471, October.
    15. Bahar, Dany, 2020. "The hardships of long distance relationships: time zone proximity and the location of MNC's knowledge-intensive activities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    16. Shixiang Wang & Minyuan Zhao, 2018. "A tale of two distances: a study of technological distance, geographic distance and multilocation firms," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 1091-1120.
    17. Vestal, Alex & Danneels, Erwin, 2018. "Knowledge exchange in clusters: The contingent role of regional inventive concentration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1887-1903.
    18. Francis M. Kemegue, 2009. "Pattern of Interdependence of Aggregate FDI from the Same Source Country," Working Papers 200928, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    19. Sofka, Wolfgang & Shehu, Edlira & de Faria, Pedro, 2014. "Multinational subsidiary knowledge protection—Do mandates and clusters matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1320-1333.
    20. Smeets, Roger & Bosker, E.M., 2011. "Leaders, laggards and technology seeking strategies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 481-497.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:54:y:2008:i:7:p:1252-1265. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.