Chinese firms in Ireland: profile, motives and impact of human resource and industrial relations factors

Abstract

Despite its small scale and peripheral location, Ireland has enjoyed remarkable success in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). This is predicated on a combination of incentives, principally low corporation tax but also certain 'Human Resource' factors, particularly labour availability, quality and productivity. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the impact of human resource and industrial relations (HR/IR) considerations on the location decision of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Ireland. To achieve this aim, our paper addresses two specific research objectives. We firstly seek to identify and profile the population of Chinese MNEs in Ireland and secondly we empirically investigate the impact (or otherwise) of HR/IR considerations on their location decision. Our work confirms the low level of Chinese FDI in Ireland and finds that HR/IR factors had a differential impact on location decisions. We further highlight and discuss the extent of HR/IR impact and the underpinning reasons for variation.