Purpose While Austrian foreign direct investment (FDI) in Asian economies experiences a rising trend, the following question arises: Why does Austria invest more in certain economies over others? This study intends to assess the factors that drive Austrian investment in Asian economies. Design/methodology/approach Based on the ownership, location and internalization framework and the knowledge capital approach, this study hypothesizes that knowledge capital significantly attracts FDI from Austria. Meanwhile, this study applies the panel-corrected standard error method to analyze data for 11 Asian economies from 1990 to 2022. Findings After considering endogeneity, the results show a positive and significant correlation between expenditure in research and development per gross domestic product (GDP) in the host economies and FDI inflow from Austria. In addition, the study reveals that factors such as market size, trade openness and natural resources in the host economies significantly influence Austria’s FDI, which indicates that Austrian investors fall into the three main FDI typologies: market-seeking, resources-seeking and efficiency-seeking. Originality/value This study fills the literature gap by becoming the first to analyze the determinants of Austrian FDI in Asian economies, thus enriching our understanding of Austria’s global investment pattern.

Purpose This study considers the “technology creation” characteristic of technical knowledge-intensive business services (T-KIBS) and examines how human capital and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection affect the location choice of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China for two types of T-KIBS: (1) information transmission, software and information technology (ICT) services and (2) scientific research and technology (SCI) services. Design/methodology/approach Our empirical analysis is based on panel data on 22 Chinese provinces from 2009 to 2017. We use the generalized method of moments estimation for the regression analysis. Findings FDI in ICT services prefers regions with high human capital, while FDI in SCI services favors regions with good IPR protection. Research limitations/implications Future research could use more comprehensive data and qualitative interviews to enhance the findings. Practical implications These findings provide a foundation for China’s future policy on attracting FDI into T-KIBS, especially in areas related to human capital and IPR protection. Originality/value This study bridges the research gap on the FDI location choice of T-KIBS in China by clarifying the influences of human capital and IPR protection and providing theoretical support for the location choice of T-KIBS FDI.

Purpose This study investigates the causal impact of pilot free trade zones (PFTZs) on Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). Design/methodology/approach The study uses the concept of ownership advantage (OA) to derive the conceptual link between PFTZs and OFDI. Using Chinese provincial data from 2003 to 2022, the study employs various difference-in-difference estimators to estimate homogeneous and heterogeneous treatment effects. Findings Assuming a homogeneous treatment effect on the treated, implementing a PFTZ spurs OFDI. However, considering heterogeneity in treatment effects over cohorts and time diminishes the evidence for a positive impact. A positive causal effect on OFDI is established only for the Shanghai (China) PFTZ. Practical implications As China is a leading emerging economy with a state-driven development model, this study has significant implications for other developing and middle-income countries seeking to leverage PFTZs – or similar special economic zones – to stimulate OFDI. Originality/value This study conceptually links PFTZs to OFDI through the OA framework and explicitly models heterogeneity of effects across batches of PFTZs and over time. The latter is essential, as institutional differences across PFTZs may result in varying degrees of generation and overseas exploitation of OAs.

The fierce competition among hardware companies is increasingly becoming a global competition. With a fast-paced innovative environment, international business is becoming a strategic plan that all hardware management teams have to follow. However, with unique characteristics of high-tech industry, the international business of hardware firm potentially has specific issues, which make this research worth to proceed. This study examines the relationship between international business and performance of hardware companies from 2008 to 2014. To evaluate this potentially significant relationship, different degrees of internationalization are accounted to examine whether each stage may influence dissimilarly to the performance. In order to study a greater scale of this relationship, innovative performance, as a key competitive factor of high-tech companies, is also measured as another indicator to evaluate the internationalization’s effects. A profound analysis is also provided to explain the findings based on unique characteristics of the hardware industry. The study finds out that companies who invest to diversify their markets likely achieve a higher profit during the internationalization process than their competitors.

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The paper estimates technical performance of foreign-invested and local companies by analyzing a dataset for 11,210 companies in transport, warehousing and communication sector established by the GSO in 2010 and SFPF parameters. The results show that the average efficiency score of companies in this industry is 53.46%. These results also challenge the argument that performance of foreign-invested companies is always higher than that of local ones. On the contrary, type of companies is the main factor that affects the performance of foreign-invested companies in Vietnam JEL classification: F23, D24, C23.

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