Empirical study on Chinese firms' OFDI motives based on location pull factors

Zhu Hua

Science Research Management ›› 2014, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (1) : 138-148.

Zhu Hua

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Abstract

China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) has experienced dramatic soaring in recent years, becoming the main FDI sourcing country which contributes to the flourishing of developing countries' OFDI. First, the paper attempts to modify the motives or strategies framework suitable to emerging countries based on Resource-based View (RBV), and classifies the motives into three types, namely resource-intensifying, resource-complementing and resource-developing. Then based on the hypotheses from pull factors of host countries, the paper explores the strategic motives of China's OFDI by reverse deduction. Using the panel data from 53 Chinese OFDI destinations during 1998-2008, it is found out thatChina's OFDI is mostly resource-intensifying and complementing type of motives, which have taken on the characteristics of sequentially diversified progress and varied with different host countries. The results from China can not only help explain the reasons forChinese OFDI, but also provide reference for the general motive studies on emerging countries' OFDI.

Key words

outward foreign direct investment / resource-based view (RBV) / pull factors / motives

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Zhu Hua. Empirical study on Chinese firms' OFDI motives based on location pull factors[J]. Science Research Management. 2014, 35(1): 138-148

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