Scope, scale, and locational preferences: an analysis of emerging multinationals

This paper aims to examine the case of emerging multinationals, using a large sample of Spanish parent-subsidiary links obtained from ORBIS Bureau van Dijk. Three characteristics of multinational frms are specifcally considered: their scope, scale, and location decisions. Our results confrm that mor...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fariñas García, José Carlos, Moreno Martín, María Lourdes, Martín-Marcos, Ana
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/124827
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/124827
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:334.726
Multinational firms
Firm heterogeneity
Productivity
Location decision
Administración de empresas
Empresas
Econometría (Economía)
5311.07 Investigación Operativa
5311 Organización y Dirección de Empresas
Descripción
Sumario:This paper aims to examine the case of emerging multinationals, using a large sample of Spanish parent-subsidiary links obtained from ORBIS Bureau van Dijk. Three characteristics of multinational frms are specifcally considered: their scope, scale, and location decisions. Our results confrm that more productive frms engage in greater multinational activity in terms of their scope (the number of foreign markets in which they invest) and scale (the volume of local sales by subsidiaries in foreign markets). The structure of multinational firms’ activity is also analyzed from the perspective of host country characteristics. Distance and the relative labor costs of the host country are negatively related to the scope of foreign direct investment decisions, whereas the presence of a common language, host country size, and institutional quality positively infuence decisions to invest abroad. In the manufacturing sector, host country tarifs positively correlate with the scope of multinational firms’ operations, whereas regulatory trade barriers in host countries negatively infuence investment decisions in the services sector. These results are robust to the control of endogeneity between parent firms’ productivity and both the scope and scale of subsidiaries abroad.