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The business of location: site selection consultants and the mobilisation of knowledge in the location decision

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  • Nicholas A Phelps
  • Andrew M Wood

Abstract

Consideration of the work of site selection consultants provides a window onto the frictions inherent in the location decision. In this paper, we draw upon interviews to interpret site selection consultants as intermediaries between a demand for locations emanating from MNEs and a supply of locations provided by national and subnational territories. We show how this intermediary role extends beyond the economizing on search costs and into the rarely appreciated market-creating and value adding opportunities offered by location. We also show how the knowledge mobilised by consultants is quintessentially geographical. Paradoxically, it is the geographical nature of the knowledge mobilised by site selection consultants that presents frictions to the professionalisation and globalisation of the industry despite its seminal role in promoting the mobility of economic activities. In conclusion, we explore elements of a future research agenda centred on the mediated nature of MNE location decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas A Phelps & Andrew M Wood, 2018. "The business of location: site selection consultants and the mobilisation of knowledge in the location decision," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 1023-1044.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:18:y:2018:i:5:p:1023-1044.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas A. Phelps & Andrew Wood, 2018. "Promoting the global economy: The uneven development of the location consulting industry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(6), pages 1336-1354, September.
    2. Andrew Wood & Nick Phelps, 2018. "Towards a geography of intermediaries," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(6), pages 1290-1294, September.
    3. Junsong Wang & Yehua Dennis Wei & Bingquan Lin, 2021. "Functional division and location choices of Chinese outward FDI: The case of ICT firms," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(5), pages 937-957, August.
    4. Bathelt, Harald & Li, Pengfei, 2020. "Processes of building cross-border knowledge pipelines," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    5. Harald Bathelt & John A Cantwell & Ram Mudambi, 2018. "Overcoming frictions in transnational knowledge flows: challenges of connecting, sense-making and integrating," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 1001-1022.
    6. Andrew M. Wood & Nicholas A. Phelps, 2020. "Mediating Local Economic Development: The Place of Site Selection Consultants in Industrial Recruitment," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 34(1), pages 78-84, February.
    7. Olga Porro & Francesc Pardo-Bosch & Núria Agell & Mónica Sánchez, 2020. "Understanding Location Decisions of Energy Multinational Enterprises within the European Smart Cities’ Context: An Integrated AHP and Extended Fuzzy Linguistic TOPSIS Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-29, May.
    8. Sigler, Thomas & Neal, Zachary & Martinus, Kirsten, 2020. "The Brokerage Roles of City-Regions in Global Corporate Networks," OSF Preprints nvs79, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Multinational enterprise; information economics; the location decision; knowledge of place; site selection consultants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General

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