Migration and the location of MNE activities: Evidence from Italian provinces
研究移民如何影响跨国公司区位选择，发现来自投资者母国的移民对绿地投资有正向但高度异质的影响，尤其对首次投资者和下游活动投资者作用更强，支持移民作为信息中介降低国际商业固定成本的观点。
Abstract We investigate the migration‐inward foreign direct investment (FDI) nexus in narrow geographies. A novel two‐stage empirical strategy allows us to investigate the role of migration as a determinant of multinational enterprises (MNEs) location choices and unpick heterogeneity in foreign investors' preferences towards the presence of migrants in the host location. This allows us to shed light on the relative importance of the underlying mechanisms linking migration and inward FDI. Relying on 1113 greenfield investments by 895 MNEs in Italian NUTS3 regions over 2003–2015, we find that immigrants from the country of origin of the investor exert a positive but highly heterogeneous effect on MNE location choices. Investors are more sensitive to the presence of migrants from their country of origin when they lack experience in the destination country (first‐time investors) and when their investments concern market‐access or business‐services (downstream) activities. This is consistent with the view that migrants act as information brokers that bridge the fixed costs of international business activities.