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At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the paper is witnessing a new phenomenon of international entrepreneurship; skilled entrepreneurs from developed countries are temporarily moving to emerging economies in order to pursue business opportunities. While anecdotal evidence exists, very little theoretical development has taken place so far to explain to this phenomenon. The paper presents two short cases based on such anecdotal evidence. These cases form the basis for the development of a conceptual framework which entails a profile of entrepreneurs who have the ability to establish and operate new business ventures in an emerging economy which is characterized by a high psychic distance.

Using Siu's work on immigrant laborers, the paper suggests that skilled, professional entrepreneurs from Israel, who seek business opportunities in China, have a profile that differs from typical immigrant entrepreneurs described in literature and is closer to the immigrant laborers described by Siu and the paper suggests therefore naming them “sojourning entrepreneurs”.

These entrepreneurs have the ability to overcome liability of foreignness, without integrating in the host society, and without becoming part of the local culture and the ability to engage both networks in the home country and in the host country to further the entrepreneurial venture in the host country. The paper poses that these foreign entrepreneurs will be more successful in China when using strategic alliances and that they will be more successful if they are able to leverage their foreignness temporarily and become liaisons and mediators between agents in the home and in the host country.

If, as posed, these entrepreneurs will indeed be more successful in China when using alliances rather than WOFEs and if their unique capabilities enable them to become liaisons and mediators, this line of research can lead to guidelines for such entrepreneurs as well as for the Chinese Government. The paper expects that in the Chinese century, more entrepreneurs will be footloose and fancy-free and exploit opportunities in globally emerging markets and they will be in need of guidelines based on empirical research.

While many studies have investigated the impact of institutional factors (i.e. financial risk factors) in the host country on inward foreign direct investment (FDI), fewer studies have researched on the locational aspects of FDI in relation to the political economy. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the effects of the political economy on inward FDI in Poland’s regions and in other CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) countries.

The paper develops a theoretical argument postulating that political economy affects locational determinants of FDI inflow. To test this hypothesis empirically, several analyses were performed at the national level (Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) and at the subnational level (Poland’s provinces). First, the “footloose” nature of FDI inflows using the time series analysis was examined. Then a fixed-effect panel data regression model and a dynamic adjustment model to quantify the impact of political ideology and agglomeration effects were performed.

After controlling for economic and institutional determinants of FDI, the findings indicate that, in transitional economies, ideology affects the locational choice of multinational corporations (MNCs). At the national level, the results show that political risk, liberalization and economic reforms are important drivers of FDI inflows. At the subnational level, the vote for a liberal party positively affects the distribution of FDI in the provinces. Another finding is that electoral cycles also affect FDI inflows at regional levels in Poland. Finally, this study provides some supporting evidence for the “footloose” nature of FDI in case of external shocks.

This study contributes to the literature on the locational determinants of FDI by showing that ideology constitutes an important factor for locational choices by MNCs. The findings have important implications for public policy decision-makers who are seeking to improve the attractiveness of their country or region as an FDI destination.

Many multinational firms attempt to cope with trade policy uncertainties by developing the option of manufacturing their goods in multiple production facilities in different countries. In this chapter, we explore how such “production switching” options affect the vulnerability of a country’s exports to foreign protectionism. We present a theoretical model of such behavior and show that production switching increases the elasticity of a country’s export with respect to tariffs. The magnitude of the elasticity depends on a country’s position in the value chain. We use the model’s predictions to provide new insights into the vulnerability of China’s exports during the current Sino–US trade war.

Economic ties and formation of trade blocks escalates the movement of goods among the participants and bring different economic and structural changes. Therefore, the current research emphasises on the distribution of market structure and industrial value added among the participant countries of China–Pakistan economic corridor project while focussing on pre and post FTA status.

This study utilises the footloose capital model for analysing whether China or Pakistan is more suitable for attracting factors of production to increase their share of industrial value added. For econometric analyses the current research utilises data from 1995 to 2018 and maximum likelihood effect method to assess factors that affect regional value-added distribution.

Results show that both countries owe different level of economic developments. Effect of capital is, comparatively, similar for both countries while Pakistan supports trade openness which points towards the fact of positive utilisation of abundant labour resources in Pakistan by establishing industrial structure either through domestic capital formation or foreign investment. Whereas, share of labour and trade openness of China positively affect value added production of China.

This is one of the unique studies that studies the regional economic treaties usefulness for any developing country across Asia. Where this study uses the footloose capital model and maximum likelihood method for its analysis which is not previously done, while for detailed analyses the study further divides the timeframe into two parts as pre-FTA ranges from 1995 to 2006, post-FTA from 2007 to 2018 while overall results consist of whole-time frame.

Argues that the association of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czech and Slovak Republics (CEECs) with the European Union (EU) under “Europe agreements” is unlikely to divert any significant amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) from developing countries because most of it in the latter is location specific. Notes that this applies to investments in natural resources, services and manufacturing industries targeting at domestic markets of the host developing countries. Only in the case of footloose labour and pollution intensive branches, developing countries may face additional locational competition from the associated CEECs. But such industries generally have very low shares in total FDI. Moreover, relative costs of production in CEECs are expected to rise in the course of their convergence towards EU standards.

This chapter aims to investigate to what extent differences in legal systems affect cross-border insolvency. Specifically, it aims to answer the following research questions: What is the relationship between multinational status and firm death rates? To what extent can the legal system affect the pattern of firms’ death across countries? How can the cross-border insolvency legal rules produce firms’ death or survival through corporate restructuring and bailout?

We apply survival methods and estimate a discrete-time hazard model in which we look for the effect of foreign ownership on firm death, controlling for firm- and industry-specific covariates. In doing this we analyse the determinants of firms’ death and crisis distinguishing Italian foreign-owned firms according to the legal system of the country where they have their ‘centre of main interests’ (COMI).

Our main findings reveal that Italian firms owned by foreign multinationals are more likely to exit and to be in crisis than national firms. In addition, Italian foreign-owned firms which have their COMI in a Common law country, compared with those having their COMI in a Civil law country, exhibit a lower risk of death and a higher likelihood of surviving the crisis.

This analysis was limited to all Italian firms. Therefore, it might be interesting to verify if there is a sort of country/sectoral heterogeneity in the firms’ behaviour. In addition, the analysis could be extended to the Italian firms investing abroad (i.e. Domestic MNEs).

Overall, our study enriches our understanding of the determinants of foreign-owned firms’ survival in Italy and highlights the important role assumed by the countries’ legal environment. Although the vast majority of legal systems establishes that business crisis management is no longer aimed at repressing and sanctioning, but rather at preserving the entrepreneurial complex, and rescuing and maintaining business activity, we provide some insights into how differences between Common law countries and Civil law countries affect cross-border insolvency.

Investigates the purchase of industrial real estate by small to medium enterprises. Using a three‐stage methodology, examined the views of a stakeholder panel, then drew a sample of 450 firms ranging from micro‐businesses to large firms and examined the importance of various factors likely to influence the attractiveness of an industrial site. A focus group comprising members of an expert panel was then convened to discuss the findings. Highlights the subjective decision‐making associated with the smaller firms in comparison with the “buying centre” objectivity of the larger firms. Owner‐managers from micro and small firms were motivated by such personal issues as the proximity of the industrial site to their home, rather than access to transport routes or freight terminals. The findings suggest that government and private sector agencies seeking to develop and market industrial land need to devote more time to understanding the needs of small firms. Also discusses implications for future research.

New age technology is obliterating geography. By redistributing economic power around the world, it is creating a footloose economy that permits firms to locate in a variety of nontraditional venues.

This chapter examines the ethics and business diplomacy of legal tax avoidance by multinational enterprises (MNEs).

The methodology assembles the relevant literature and examines alternative interpretations of corporate tax strategy. Key topics include business ethics and responsibility, business sustainability, economic patriotism and corporate inversions, tax havens, and possible solutions.

The debate concerns whether legal tax avoidance is unethical and/or poor business diplomacy. There are three possible strategies for MNEs. One strategy is intentional tax avoidance. Another strategy is business–government negotiation concerning tax liability. Another strategy is business diplomacy aimed at maximizing the social legitimacy of the firm across multiple national tax jurisdictions.

The chapter assesses four possible solutions for corporate tax avoidance. One solution is voluntary tax payments beyond legal obligations whether out of a sense of ethics or a strategy of business diplomacy. A second solution is international tax cooperation and tax harmonization in ways that minimize opportunities for tax avoidance. A third solution is increased stakeholder pressure emphasizing business diplomacy and tax cooperation and harmonization. The fourth solution is negotiated tax liabilities between each business and each jurisdiction.

The chapter provides an original systematic survey of the key aspects of corporate international tax avoidance in an approach in which business ethics and business diplomacy are better integrated. The value of the chapter is that it provides information and assembles relevant literature concerning corporate international tax avoidance, and addresses possible solutions for this problem.