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The purpose of this paper is to re-assess the concept of ownership advantages in the light of successful international expansion of multinationals from emerging economies (EMNEs) and explore how these advantages are built.

The paper presents a viewpoint based on analysis of the successful international expansion of a sample of Chinese EMNEs where success is measured their ability win share in overseas markets. This allows us to identify their ownership advantages, the antecedents of these advantages and how they were built using dynamic capabilities.

EMNEs have “non-traditional” ownership advantages that have been built by finding innovative ways to leverage the locational advantages of their home countries. The conversion of locational advantages into ownership advantages requires that firms build dynamic capabilities that enable them to innovate in the use of the locational advantages they enjoy.

The study is limited to a small sample of EMNEs from China who have succeeded in winning market share in the initial phases of their international expansion. In the light of these limitations, the authors discuss the question the sustainability of their competitive advantage as well as the likely applicability of our findings to EMNEs from other EMNEs.

The authors revisit the paradox that despite the growth and success of multinationals from EMNEs in the past decade they are assumed to lack ownership advantages. The authors show that EMNEs’ ownership advantages differ from the traditional advantages such proprietary technologies and brand equity that are enjoyed by incumbent multinationals.

Drawing upon the eclectic paradigm and the regulative dimension of institutional distance theory, it is posited that to understand a firms’ cross-border merger and acquisition (CBMA) location choices, it is critical to examine the acquirers’ ownership advantages.

Using a sample of CBMAs undertaken by US firms from 1999 to 2015, the paper explores the extent to which acquiring firm ownership advantages – financial and innovation capabilities – influence target firm country selection in relation to regulative distance.

It is shown that acquiring firms with greater innovative capabilities are likely to choose target firms in nations with less regulative distance from their home market; whereas firms with greater financial capabilities target firms in more distant nations.

This paper builds on the important research on CBMA activity, focusing on the largely neglected pre-acquisition resources in relation to the regulative distance between target firms and the acquirer.

Economics, business management

The case study is relevant for MBA, Master's and under graduate (economics, international and business economics) students.

Biocon is one of the top 20 companies from India in the Forbes list of “Best under a Billion” companies. It has emerged from being an enzyme-producing firm to a biotech powerhouse under the guidance of Ms Kiran M. Shaw. It is an innovative company with a varied scientific skill base and progressive manufacturing facilities for developing and commercializing biopharmaceuticals. This study attempts to explore the international foray of Biocon using the eclectic OLI framework. Entrepreneurship, need for integrated business model, innovation, quality control, etc. constituted the ownership (O) factors, important for Biocon to earn the more than compensating advantage in the overseas market. The locational factors were less important in case of Biocon as the global expansion was driven by a motive of either market seeking or cashing in on the cost advantage of its operations. The dominant mode of entry has been the joint ventures. The overseas patterns exhibited by Biocon can be captured fully by the O-L-I framework.

To understand the economic theory of OLI and the ownership, locational and internalisation advantages, link the OLI framework with the international foray of Biocon, Biocon's internationalization journey, major overseas deals signed and the economic rationale behind the deals.

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The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing whether a multinational corporation (MNC) appoints an expatriate or a local national as the CEO of its subsidiary.

The study proposes a framework comprising ownership‐specific, location‐specific and internalization‐specific factors to examine determinants of expatriate CEO assignment. MNCs' subsidiaries in Taiwan were selected for the study.

For the effect on the assignment of an expatriated CEO to a subsidiary, the factors of a subsidiary's capability and size, MNC's global strategy and internalization motivation are positive; in contrast, the factor of the host country's locational advantages is negative. In addition, in circumstances of large cultural distances, the effect of high internalization motivation is positive and that of low internalization motivation is negative.

The research does not differentiate between two different types of expatriates and focuses on advanced countries' MNCs' subsidiaries in Taiwan. The theoretical implication of the study lies in the application of the perspectives of resource‐based view and transaction cost theory on an MNC's decision concerning the assignment of an expatriated CEO for subsidiaries.

MNCs could make a subsidiary's staffing decision by taking into account ownership‐, location‐, and internalization‐specific factors. Failure to do so will lead to poor operation of the subsidiary.

The research contributes to knowledge about the determinants of expatriate CEO assignment, and illuminates the importance of ownership, location and internalization factors for MNCs.

This paper analyses the investment patterns of Sino‐British joint ventures in China. The research is based on the data of 551 Sino‐British joint ventures formed over the period of 1983 to 1996. It aims to provide an overview of Sino‐British joint ventures' investment in China and to explain the investment conditions. The article analyses the investment patterns from the dimensions of investment value, geographical location, industry sector and equity ownership. To explain the formation of the patterns, it further explores the host country factors of investment based on the policy framework, economic determinants and business facilitation. It reveals the investment trend, the uneven spatial distribution, the sectoral characteristics and the ownership structure of joint ventures. Suggests that government economic strategy and policies towards FDI are imperative in shaping the investment patterns. Locational advantages, economic growth, industrial structures and reform process are major economic factors influencing the investment decisions. Decentralisation of decision making and local governments' facilitation efforts also play a complementary role in attracting foreign investment.

Much of the extant literature on the Chinese Family Firm highlights the unique cultural heritage and social context in which they are embedded as primary determinants of their strategic behavior. In contrast, few studies have examined the strategic behavior of Chinese Family Firms from an economic perspective. In this paper, we address this gap in the literature by applying Dunning's eclectic theory of the MNE to the Chinese Family Firm. In doing so, we generate a series of testable propositions. We suggest that although the strategic behavior of Chinese Family Firms will differ significantly from those of classic Western MNEs, they are nonetheless amenable to interpretation according to Dunning's analytical constructs of ownership (O), internalization (I) and locational (L) advantages. More specifically, we find that like the classic Western MNE, the Chinese Family Firm can be understood as a viable mechanism for capitalizing on particular configurations of OLI advantages in international markets.

US retailers do business in the largest and most affluent mass market in the world. However, they have reached a saturation point for some popular retail formats. US retailers are looking outside national borders for expansion opportunities. The Strategic International Retail Expansion (SIRE) model combines ideas presented in four separate theories to predict future expansion of these retailers.

Seymour's application of the eclectic paradigm to the international construction industry is examined. As with other theories on multinational enterprise, the paradigm was conceived by Dunning to explain the phenomenon of foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector. In retaining it to explain international involvement of construction companies, certain conventional economic reasoning was modified. It is the contention of this paper that Seymour's conceptualization is incongruent with the peculiarities of international contracting. Neither does it reflect the extensive debate on the suitability of well‐grounded economic thoughts to international services. In the course of preparing this paper, it was found that a few government and international agencies have had to confront the difficulties of applying the existing theoretical framework to the services sector. Refinements are proposed here to make Seymour's theoretical construct more robust as a tool for future research, simply by referring to direct observations and materials which were at his disposal.

Japanese department stores have gained significant market‐share in several Pacific Rim countries. In this paper, factors related to internationalization are discussed. Dunning's eclectic approach is considered as a framework for explaining internationalization. Profits, number of employees, and dollars spent for research and development are independent variables used to predict internationalization. Japanese department stores with international offices versus no international offices were correctly classified 83% of the time. Those retailers with international offices had greater profit, more employees, and more R&D funds than those without international offices. A two by two matrix focusing on growth and store format is presented to explain Japanese retailers' international expansion. Propositions for future research are presented.

Dunning’s eclectic paradigm of international production, which focuses on the ownership, location and internalisation factors, presents a useful framework to explain the foreign value‐added activities of transnational corporations. “Eclectic paradigm” means a general framework or model chosen from what is preferred from various theories, systems or doctrines. The present study extends the eclectic paradigm to a study of Singapore transnational construction corporations (STCCs) and examines what location factors are viewed as the most significant for STCCs engaged in foreign value‐added construction‐related activities in their major international construction market. This study examines if these location factors vary significantly according to firm‐specific contextual variables in the STCCs, such as size, international age, multinationality and extent of specialisation/diversification, as well as the major reasons for STCCs to export their services overseas. The most important host location factors identified by STCCs operating in other Southeast Asian countries are: the host governments’ attitudes, policies and regulatory framework; the social, political, cultural and geographic factors; and the cost of doing business factors.