Putting Japanese investment in Europe in its place (original) (raw)
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The Spatial Structure of Japanese Business Activities in Europe
Tijdschrift Voor Economische En Sociale Geografie, 2001
The purpose of this study was to investigate where Japanese firms have invested, what kind of business activity profiles have developed, and to determine the different types of business activities by structural characteristics of investment. The business activities of 3,089 Japanese affiliated firms in each of 167 regions were analysed. Combinations were identified on the mix of manufacturing, research and service components. Regions were classified with five types based on their business activity profiles: two types were dominated by service activities, two by advanced manufacturing and one by manufacturing activities. In contrast to previous research, the importance of services and manufacturing are identified and their interrelationships with other Japanese business activities such as research and development are clarified. Service regions tend to be dominant in central locations in individual countries, whereas manufacturing regions are more dispersed.
Europe since the beginning of the region's transition. The use of rm level data on Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region allows us to focus on the industry, location and timing of af liate establishment at a level of detail previously unexamined. This enables us to compare Japanese investment with overall regional inward investment as well as investigate country specialisation patterns within the region. We also characterise the type of investing parent, and determine how investments in CEE t into the European-wide investment patterns for these rms. Finally, we investigate the entry mode choices of investing rms, nding a shift from minority-owned joint ventures and limited participation in the region in favour of wholly-owned subsidiaries and larger involvement in the region.
The Extent and History of Foreign Direct Investment in Japan
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
The past few decades have seen a significant rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) worldwide. While Japanese companies have actively contributed to this trend, FDI in Japan continues to be much lower than in other countries. This paper explores the history of both outward and inward FDI in Japan, looking in particular at the reasons for the low levels of inward FDI. New calculations for this paper -based on data from the Establishment and Enterprise Census -show that foreign firms' role in the Japanese economy may be substantially larger than the most frequently cited published statistics suggest. In some industries (motor vehicles and electrical machinery in particular), inward FDI penetration, as measured by the share of employment accounted for by foreign affiliates, in Japan in fact is on par with the United States. However, a large number of "sanctuaries" with almost no foreign involvement remain, so that FDI penetration overall is still very low. While to some extent, this can be explained by Japan's relatively isolated geographic location, historical factors play an important role. Throughout the centuries and until quite recently, Japan's rulers have viewed foreign involvement in the economy as a threat and consequently erected various barriers to FDI, which are discussed in detail.
FDI and REGIONAL INTEGRATION: The Role of Japanese Multinational Corporations
In the early postwar era, Japanese FDI was relatively modest and limited mainly to the extractive and labor-intensive industries. During the five year period from the 1985 Plaza Accord to 1990, however, the amount and cases of Japanese FDI nearly doubles the totals of the previous 35 years, covering a broader range of industries. Since much has been written about Japanese production networks before 1997, my paper is a simple exploratory study on the changes in Japanese international production networks after the Asian Crisis and the implications this may have for regional integration. It is still too early to distinguish between recovery measures and broader organization changes. Therefore, I provide three before-and-after snapshots of Japanese foreign direct investments (FDI) in order to take a first cut at this issue. First, I examine the recent trends in and distribution of Japanese FDI and the resulting horizontal division of labor that has emerged among the Asia-Pacific economi...
Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 2004
Cieślik, Andrzej, and Ryan, Michael-Explaining Japanese direct investment flows into an enlarged Europe: A comparison of gravity and economic potential approaches This study employs the gravity and economic potential frameworks to explain Japanese direct investment flows into EU and EU candidate countries between 1990-2000. Our empirical results suggest that, when allowing for individual country heterogeneity, Japanese firms locate in countries with high economic potential suggesting that the economic potential framework is more general than the gravity model and is the preferred framework under which these investment flows should be analyzed. Furthermore, for Central and Eastern European countries, their entry into the EU has already been taken into account by Japanese investors, and that these countries should not expect increased FDI inflows when entry actually occurs.
FDI in the Restructuring of the Japanese Economy
2000
This paper examines how inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) have influenced the restructuring of the Japanese economy and can be expected to continue to do so in the future. We find that outward investment has helped Japanese firms to sustain foreign market shares and contributed to the restructuring of the Japanese economy away from older industries. By shifting from exporting to affiliate production, there has been a geographical reallocation of the activities of Japanese firms, particularly those of multinational manufacturing firms. However, Japanese outward FDI is still not very large relative to the Japanese economy, despite the rapid growth since the mid-1980s, and there is still scope for significant increase when compared with the levels of most other OECD countries. Inward FDI will presumably have an even stronger impact on the restructuring of the Japanese economy. Although the stock of inward foreign direct investment is still very small, there are important changes under way. Deregulation has opened up much of the industrial and service sectors to foreign multinationals.
Characteristics and performance of Japanese foreign direct investment in Europe
European Management Journal, 1995
This article by Detlev Nitsch, Paul Beamish and Shige Makino provides an illuminating presentation of the characteristics and performance of 118 Japanese subsidiaries in Europe. The study is one of the few that contains performance data at the subsidiary level. Subsidiary performance is limited to the initial mode of entry, industry and country of entry, subsidiary size, and reasons for entering. Japanese investment in Europe grew significantly in the late 1980s, but was heavily concentrated in a few industries. Entry mode preferences have also shifted, away from greenfield start-ups to more use of joint ventures. Conclusions are of interest to European and non-European corporate managers, and public policy-makers. The European Union attracts the attention of managers in other parts of the world both as a source of serious global competitors, and as a compelling market for a multinational firm's products. This artide examines the latter point, looking at Europe as a manufacturing site from the point of view of Japanese manufacturing corporations with subsidiaries in the region. Europe has often been depicted in the popular and business press as a homogeneous entity, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s as worldwide excitement about '1992' reached a fever pitch. Managers were exhorted to pay attention to 'EC '92', or to 'go to Europe', without regard for where their business would be located once behind the 'EC barrier'. Readers of this Journal are, of course, well aware that cultural, political, regulatory, and other differences exist between Western European countries. Indeed, many writers have described these differences, in this and other journals.