Local Externalities and Ownership Choices in Foreign Acquisitions by Multinational Enterprises
研究了目标企业所在地的空间异质性如何影响跨国企业在海外并购中的所有权选择，发现位于核心城市或产业集聚区的目标企业能提供替代性外部性，从而降低跨国企业保留当地合作伙伴的需求。
Abstract This article assesses the influence of spatial heterogeneity on the entry mode by multinational enterprises ( MNE s) in foreign markets. Focusing on acquisitions, we claim that the location of the target firm influences the MNE 's ownership choice. MNE s normally execute partial acquisitions to reduce their liability of foreignness and to preserve their target's inherent competencies, particularly in highly innovative and internationally competitive sectors. However, this phenomenon occurs less frequently if target firms are located in areas that are characterized by relevant externalities, such as core cities and industrial districts. In particular, core cities allow foreign MNE s to access a variety of information and knowledge as well as other externalities that are associated with international interconnectedness; industrial districts provide MNE s with easier access to industry‐specific agglomeration economies (a local pool of skilled labor, local input‐output linkages, and local knowledge spillovers). These locations provide substitutes for different aspects of the target firm's competences, thus reducing an MNE 's need to maintain a local partner. Empirical evidence from foreign acquisitions of local manufacturing firms that occurred in I taly during the 2001–10 period confirms these expectations.