Location determinants for emerging market firms

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to understand which location determinants are relevant in a subsidiary location decision under the interaction influence of an emerging‐market firm's (EMF) resource and internationalization motives.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper prepares a typology of an EMF's resources which are different from those of a developed‐country firm. It proceeds to argue which internationalization motives are likely to work for an EMF endowed with a specific resource. Finally, the paper posits the impact of resource and internationalization motives on the relevance of some location determinants over others in an EMF's location decision matrix.

Findings

The conceptual framework proposes a relationship between EMF resources, internationalization motives and location determinants and prioritizes some location determinant(s) over others for various combinations of EMF resource and internationalization motives.

Research limitations/implications

The paper contributes to the literature by proposing a unique typology of EMF resources. The overall framework informs the scholars about the importance of idiosyncratic resources as the basis of differential location decisions.

Practical implications

This article presents a guiding framework for multinational managers to assess optimum location decisions on the basis of idiosyncratic firm resources and internationalization motives.

Originality/value

The paper fills a scholarly gap by proposing a framework that relates firm resources and internationalization motives to location determinants. In the process, the paper also proposes a resource typology for resources unique to EMFs.

Citation

Jain, N.K., Hausknecht, D.R. and Mukherjee, D. (2013), "Location determinants for emerging market firms", Management Decision, Vol. 51 No. 2, pp. 396-418. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741311301885