IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jintbs/v44y2013i5p504-520.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm rivalry, knowledge accumulation, and MNE location choices

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Alcácer

    (Harvard Business School, Boston, USA)

  • Cristian L Dezső

    (Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, USA)

  • Minyuan Zhao

    (Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA)

Abstract

The international business (IB) literature has mostly emphasized the impact of location and firm characteristics on location choices. However, industries with a significant presence of multinational enterprises (MNEs) are oligopolistic in nature, which suggests that rivalry among firms plays an important role in firms’ dynamic decision-making processes. This paper explores how rivalry and differential knowledge accumulation among competitors affect MNEs’ geographic expansion across time and markets. Specifically, we build a model in which two competing firms with different capabilities simultaneously decide a sequence of market entries. Following previous research, we allow the possibility that certain markets are closer (a better fit) to one firm than to the other, and that certain knowledge is more transferable across markets (less market specific). We then solve the model computationally, and identify three equilibrium strategies – avoid, collocate, and stronger-chases-weaker – depending on the initial relative firm capabilities, market attractiveness, market–firm fit, and knowledge transferability. By explicitly incorporating firm rivalry across multiple markets, our model offers a comprehensive approach to understanding the drivers behind MNEs’ sequential location choices, and offers alternative explanations for some important empirical observations in IB, such as bunching and second-mover advantage in market entries.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Alcácer & Cristian L Dezső & Minyuan Zhao, 2013. "Firm rivalry, knowledge accumulation, and MNE location choices," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(5), pages 504-520, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:44:y:2013:i:5:p:504-520
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jibs/journal/v44/n5/pdf/jibs201318a.pdf
    File Function: Link to full text PDF
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jibs/journal/v44/n5/full/jibs201318a.html
    File Function: Link to full text HTML
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

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

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Mengheng Liu & Xingwang Qian, 2021. "Provincial Interdependence and China’s “Irrational” Outward Foreign Direct Investment," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 153-181, February.
    2. Allison F Kingsley & Benjamin A T Graham, 2017. "The effects of information voids on capital flows in emerging markets," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(3), pages 324-343, April.
    3. Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra & Bernardo Silva-Rêgo & Ariane Figueira, 2022. "Financial and fiscal incentives and inward foreign direct investment: When quality institutions substitute incentives," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(4), pages 417-443, December.
    4. Colombo, Luca & Dawid, Herbert, 2014. "Strategic location choice under dynamic oligopolistic competition and spillovers," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 288-307.
    5. Haruo H. Horaguchi & Toichiro Susumago, 2022. "Global R&D Location Strategy of Multinational Enterprises: an Agent-Based Simulation Modeling Approach," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 457-479, December.
    6. Claver-Cortés, Enrique & Marco-Lajara, Bartolome & Manresa-Marhuenda, Encarnación & García-Lillo, F. & Seva-Larrosa, Pedro, 2017. "Location Decisions and Agglomeration Economies: Domestic and Foreign Companies," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 39, pages 99-135.
    7. Cano-Kollmann Marcelo & Mudambi Ram & Tavares-Lehmann Ana Teresa, 2022. "The geographical dispersion of inventor networks in peripheral economies," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 66(1), pages 49-63, May.
    8. Hejun Zhuang, 2018. "Modeling Strategic Location Choices for Disadvantaged Firms," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(10), pages 59-78, October.
    9. Estrin, Saul & Meyer, Klaus E. & Pelletier, Adeline, 2018. "Emerging Economy MNEs: How does home country munificence matter?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 514-528.
    10. Minyoung Kim & Chang Hoon Oh & Jukyeong Han, 2024. "Colocation as network: Types and performance implications of structural positions in colocation network," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(1), pages 71-90, February.
    11. Fiona Kun Yao & Ming-Jer Chen & Jiatao Li & Danielle Combs & Qiang Li, 2024. "A review of 50 years of research since Knickerbocker (1973): competitive dynamics in international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(5), pages 522-550, July.
    12. Schotter, Andreas P.J. & Buchel, Olha & Vashchilko (Lukoianova), Tatiana, 2018. "Interactive visualization for research contextualization in international business," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 356-372.
    13. Andrea Bacchiocchi & Gian Italo Bischi, 2022. "An Evolutionary Game to Model Offshoring and Reshoring of Production Between Developed and Developing Countries," International Journal of Applied Behavioral Economics (IJABE), IGI Global, vol. 11(1), pages 1-29, January.
    14. Ilgaz Arikan & Asli M. Arikan & Oded Shenkar, 2022. "Revisiting emerging market multinational enterprise views: The Goldilocks story restated," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 781-802, June.
    15. Radi, Davide & Lamantia, Fabio & Italo Bischi, Gian, 2021. "Offshoring, Reshoring, Unemployment, And Wage Dynamics In A Two-Country Evolutionary Model," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 705-732, April.
    16. Karin Beukel & Minyuan Zhao, 2018. "IP litigation is local, but those who litigate are global," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 1(1), pages 53-70, June.

    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:pal:jintbs:v:44:y:2013:i:5:p:504-520. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.palgrave-journals.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.