Owner Identity, National Institutional Systems and Outward FDI Location: The Case of Chinese MNEs

Abstract

We examine the relationship between majority owner identity, national institutional systems and Chinese MNEs' outward FDI location choices. We reason that particular owner types will prefer to locate in institutional systems with complementary institutional characteristics. Drawing upon the comparative capitalism literature that classifies institutional systems into nine configurations, we predict that owner identity significantly affects the selection of foreign investment destinations. Using a two-decade sample of 8,000 OFDI investment decisions, we explore the probabilities that particular owner types will select a specific institutional configuration as an OFDI destination. Our results show the likelihood of choosing a destination varies greatly across configurations. In particular, we find a strong correlation between owner identity and preferred institutional system in three types of enterprise. This study contributes to new understandings of how owner identity shapes the MNEs' ODFI destination and institutional system relationship.