Abstract
This paper adopts a conditional logit model to empirically examine the changes of Japanese investors’ location choices in response to China’s recent reorientation of its development strategy from the eastern coast to interior areas. This strategy adjustment is intended to attract FDI into China’s western region in hopes of promoting its economic growth and reducing economic inequality. Future policy suggestions on FDI attraction to western China are proposed based on the empirical details.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belderbos R, Carree M (2002) The location of Japanese investments in China: agglomeration effects, keiretsu, and firm heterogeneity. J Jpn Int Econ 16:194–211
Ben-Akiva M, Lerman SR (1985) Discrete choice analysis: theory and application to travel demand. MIT Press, Cambridge
Broadman HG, Sun X (1997) The distribution of foreign direct investment in China. World Econ 20(3):339–361
Chen C (1996) Regional determinants of foreign direct investment in mainland China. J Econ Stud 23(2): 18–30
Chen B, Feng Y (2000) Determinants of economic growth in China: private enterprise, education and openness. China Econ Rev 11(1):1–15
Cheng S (2004) The role of labor cost in the location choices of Japanese investors in China. In: Presented at the 51st Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, Seattle, WA
Cheng LK, Kwan YK (2000) What are the determinants of the location of foreign direct investment? The Chinese experience. J Int Econ 51(2):379–400
Coughlin CC, Segev E (2000) Foreign direct investment in China: a spatial econometric study. World Econ 23(1):1–23
Dunning JH (1998) Location and the multinational enterprises: a neglected factor? J Int Bus Stud 29:45–67
Ford S, Strange R (1999) Where do Japanese manufacturing firms invest within Europe, and why? Trans Corp 8(1):117–141
Friedman J et al (1992) What attracts foreign multinational corporations? Evidence from branch plant location in the United States. J Reg Sci 32(4):403–418
Fu J (2000) Institutions and investments: foreign direct investment in China during an era of reforms. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor
Fung KC, Iizaka H, Parker S (2002) Determinants of U.S. and Japanese foreign direct investment in China. J Comp Econ 30(3):567–578
Gong H (1995) Spatial patterns of foreign investment in China’s cities, 1980–1989. Urban Geogr 16(3): 198–209
Guimaraes P, Figueiredo O, Woodward D (2003) A tractable approach to the firm location decision problem. Rev Econ Stat 85(1):201–204
Hausman J, McFadden D (1984) Specification tests for the multinomial logit model. Econometrica 52(5):1219–1240
He C (2001) Locational choices and export decisions of foreign manufacturing enterprises in China. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, USA
Head K, Ries J (1996) Inter-city competition for foreign investment: static and dynamic effects of China’s incentive areas. J Urban Econ 40(1):38–60
Head K, Ries J, Swenson D (1995) Agglomeration benefits and location choice: evidence from Japanese manufacturing investments in the United States. J Int Econ 38(3):223–247
Head K, Ries J, Swenson D (1999) Attracting foreign manufacturing: investment promotion and agglomeration. Reg Sci Urban Econ 29(2):197–218
Holz C, Zhu T (2003) China’s WTO accession and state sector reform. In: Lu D et al (eds) China’s economic globalization through the WTO. Ashgate, Burlington, pp 21–33
Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S (2000) Applied logistic regression, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York
Hu A (1995) China regional disparity report. Liaoning People’s Press, Liaoning
Jiang X (2002) The new regional patterns of FDI inflows in China: policy orientation and expected performance. In: OECD (ed) Foreign direct investment in China: challenges and prospects for regional development. OECD Publications, Paris, pp 53–70
Kojima K (1978) Direct foreign investment: a Japanese model of multinational business operations. Croom Helm, London
Lu H (1997) Regional distribution of foreign direct investment and evaluation of investment environments of China. Econ Res J 12:37–44 (in chinese)
Ma J (2000) The Chinese economy in the 1990s. St Martin’s Press, New York
McFadden D (1974) Conditional logit analysis of qualitative choice behavior. In: Zarembka P (eds) Frontiers in econometrics. Academic Press, New York, pp 105–142
McFadden D, Tye W, Train K (1977) An application of diagnostic tests for the irrelevant alternatives property of the multinomial logit model. Trans Res Rec 637:39–46
Mody A, Wang F (1997) Explaining industrial growth in coastal China: Economic reforms... and what else? World Bank Econ Rev 11(2):293–325
OECD (2002). China in the world economy: the domestic policy challenges. OECD Publications, Paris
Ondrich J, Wasylenko M (1993) Foreign direct investment in the United States: issues, magnitudes, and location choice of new manufacturing plants. W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo
Qu T, Green MB (1997) Chinese foreign direct investment: a subnational perspective on location. Ashgate, Brookfield
Schroath FW, Hu M, Chen H (1993) Country-of-origin effects of foreign investments in the People’s Republic of China. J Int Bus Stud 24(2):277–290
Small KA, Hsiao C (1985) Multinomial logit specification tests. Int Econ Rev 26(3):619–627
Smith DF, Florida R (1994) Agglomeration and industrial location: an econometric analysis of Japanese-affiliated manufacturing establishments in automotive-related industries. J Urban Econ 36(1):23–41
Sun Q, Tong W, Yu Q (2002) Determinants of foreign direct investment across China. J Int Money Finance 21(1):79–113
Toyo Keizai Inc. (2003) Kaigai Shinshutsu Kigyou Souran (Japanese Overseas Investments). Toyo Keizai Inc., Tokyo
Wei Y, Liu X, Parker D, Vaidya K (1999) The regional distribution of foreign direct investment in China. Reg Stud 33(9):857–867
Wong J, Zheng Y et al (2001) The Nanxun legacy and China’s development in the post-Deng era. World Scientific, River Edge
Woodward DP (1992) Locational determinants of Japanese manufacturing start-ups in the United States. South Econ J 58(3):690–708
Zhao H, Zhu G (2000) Location factor and country-of-origin differences: an empirical analysis of FDI in China. Multinat Bus Rev 8(1):60–73
Zhou C, Delios A, Yang J (2002) Locational determinants of Japanese foreign direct investment in China. Asia Pac J Manag 19(1):63–86
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This paper was the winning entry of the 19th Charles M. Tiebout Prize in Regional Science, and was presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Science Association in San Diego, CA, February 2005.