Determinant Factors of FDI Spillovers – What Do We Really Know?

Empirical evidence about FDI spillovers to domestic firms has provided mixed results. This global evaluation has recently been complemented with the analysis of the factors that determine the existence, dimension and sign of FDI spillovers. We survey the arguments that support these factors and analyze the empirical evidence already produced. FDI spillovers depend on many factors, frequently with an indeterminate effect. Absorptive capacity of domestic firms and regions are a precondition for incorporating the benefits of FDI spillovers. Concerning the remaining factors, the results suggest opposite effects or, in some cases, are still insufficient to legitimate decisive conclusions.productivity; spillovers; FDI; determinant factors.

Does the location of manufacturing determine service sectors’ location choices? Evidence from Portugal

Considering the case of Portugal over the period 1995-2000, this paper analyses whether the location of market services is explained by the geographical proximity of the industrial sectors that use these services as intermediate inputs. A rather detailed level of regional disaggregation is used, namely the county level (275 counties). This influence is confirmed by the results of some location indices and by the regressions made for each sector. An alternative spatial unit is also used, consisting of the county itself combined with those with which it shares boundaries, showing the relevance of the level of regional disaggregation for the results obtained.Services, Manufacturing Industry, Location of Economic Activity, Portugal.

Determinants of the pattern of horizontal and vertical intra-industry trade: what can we learn from Portuguese data?

We rely on vertical and horizontal differentiation models to study the cross-industry and cross-country determinants of Portuguese intra-industry trade in 1997. We identify distinct factors for each type and the comparative advantage explanation for the vertical case. To confirm the robustness of the results we use alternative measures for a continuous dependent variable and re-estimate all equations with a Probit model. The probabilistic model takes into account the fact that we expect a relation between the existence of the explanatory variables and the existence of the phenomenon, but the way some of the factors impact is not a priori known.horizontal intra-industry trade; vertical intra-industry trade; Portugal.

Determinant factors of structural similarity at the regional level: evidence from Portugal

There is scant evidence on the determinant factors of structural similarity between geographical spaces; moreover, it has been produced considering only the national level. The present study provides evidence on this topic at the regional level, based on the analysis of 275 Portuguese counties. The results obtained confirm the importance of several explanatory factors, suggesting that the structural similarity between Portuguese counties increases with geographical proximity, the existence of a shared boundary, the similarity of factor endowments in terms of physical and human capital and the similarity in terms of economic centrality and market dimension. Key words: productive structure, Portugal, structural similarity, factor endowments, economic geography

What determines the export performance? A comparative analysis at the world level

We use constant market share (CMS) analysis to measure the variations in the market share of 82 of the world’s principal exporting countries between 1995/97 and 2005/07. The results of this analysis serve to stress the importance of competitiveness in explaining export performance. Furthermore, the existence is observed of a spatial tendency, reflected in the fact that countries that are geographically close to each other tend to display a similar behavior with regard to market share evolution and the components into which the variation is broken down.constant market share, competitiveness, export performance, international trade. Classification- C43, F10, F14.

Regional Integration and Internal Economic Geography - an Empirical Evaluation with Portuguese Data

The effects of the reduction of international trade costs on the internal economic geography of each country have been very scarcely studied in empirical terms. With data for Portugal since its adhesion to the European Union, we test the hypotheses put forward by the new economic geography concerning the evolution of the spatial concentration of the manufacturing industry as a whole and of the different industries individually considered. We consider alternative concentration concepts and data disaggregated both at the level of NUTS III (28 regions) and concelhos (275 regions). Results show a dispersion of total industry as a consequence of the reduction of international trade costs, in line with Krugman and Elizondo (1996)’s prediction. Individual industries show a similar tendency, in contrast with the theoretical hypothesis.trade liberalization; industrial location; Portugal.

Does the location of manufacturing determine service sectors’ location choices? Evidence from Portugal

Considering the case of Portugal over the period 1995-2000, this paper analyses whether the location of market services is explained by the geographical proximity of the industrial sectors that use these services as intermediate inputs. A rather detailed level of regional disaggregation is used, namely the county level (275 counties). This influence is confirmed by the results of some location indices and by the regressions made for each sector. An alternative spatial unit is also used, consisting of the county itself combined with those with which it shares boundaries, showing the relevance of the level of regional disaggregation for the results obtained. Key words: services, manufacturing industry, location of economic activity, Portugal

Inside international new ventures' internationalization: uncovering the links between antecedents and performance.

Doutoramento em GestãoA literatura de Empreendedorismo Internacional (IE) tem focado as relações entre diversos tipos de antecedentes – relacionados com o empreendedor, com a empresa, com o sector ou com os mercados – e os principais resultados do processo de IE, nomeadamente: a internacionalização (grau, amplitude e velocidade) e a performance. Contudo, ainda é rara a investigação que procura responder à questão do porquê que está subjacente à internacionalização de novas empresas internacionais (INVs) e que examina a relevância de determinadas ‘ações’ de gestão no processo de internacionalização destas empresas. Com base nas perspetivas teóricas da teoria baseada nos recursos, visão baseada no conhecimento e teoria das redes, a presente investigação pretende contribuir para aumentar o conhecimento teórico e empírico sobre o processo de internacionalização de INVs. Este estudo analisa a influência dos antecedentes nas ‘ações’ de gestão, bem como a influência que estas últimas têm na performance internacional das INVs. Assim, esta dissertação pretende responder aos seguintes objetivos de investigação: i) desenvolver um modelo holístico para o processo de internacionalização das INVs, em que as relações entre os antecedentes e a performance internacional das INVs sejam mediadas por um conjunto de ‘ações’ de gestão; ii) identificar ‘ações’ de gestão que sejam relevantes para o processo de internacionalização das INV; iii) identificar os antecedentes destas ‘ações’, relacionados com o empreendedor, com o sector e com a própria empresa; iv) entender a importância que as diferentes ações de gestão têm na performance internacional das INVs. As hipóteses foram testadas através de uma combinação entre dados recolhidos por questionário e dados secundários obtidos da base de dados eInforma da Dun & Bradstreet, para 416 INV Portuguesas, criadas entre os anos de 2000 e 2009. Os resultados desta dissertação contribuem para colmatar duas lacunas, nomeadamente: i) desenvolvimento e avaliação de um modelo holístico do processo de internacionalização das INVs; ii) avaliação de diversas decisões ou ‘ações’ de gestão no âmbito deste processo. As ‘ações’ de gestão consideradas neste estudo foram: redes sociais internacionais, alerta empreendedor, capacidade de absorção de conhecimento, e estratégias competitivas genéricas. Esta dissertação encontrou suporte empírico para as relações entre diversas características dos empreendedores (tais como o nível educacional, o número de línguas estrangeiras faladas, interesse em viajar, experiência profissional e educacional no estrangeiro, experiência profissional em atividades de gestão e propensão ao risco) e um conjunto de antecedentes relacionados com a empresa (recursos da empresa, conhecimento do mercado estrangeiro, orientação empreendedora e competências de gestão). Também foi encontrado suporte empírico para as relações positivas entre algumas características sectoriais e antecedentes relacionados com a empresa: a turbulência tecnológica está associada com a orientação empreendedora e a intensidade competitiva está relacionada com as competências de gestão da empresa. Adicionalmente foi encontrada relação entre diversos antecedentes relacionados com a empresa e as variáveis relativas às ‘ações’ de gestão. O conhecimento de mercados estrangeiros, a orientação empreendedora e as competências de gestão estão positivamente relacionados com o alerta empreendedor e a capacidade de absorção de conhecimento da empresa. Por outro lado, a orientação empreendedora e as competências de gestão da empresa estão positivamente relacionadas com todas as estratégicas competitivas genéricas identificadas (diferenciação pela inovação, diferenciação pelo marketing, diferenciação pela qualidade e serviço e liderança pelos custos). Por último, a orientação empreendedora e o conhecimento dos mercados estrageiros estão positivamente relacionadas com as medidas de redes sociais internacionais (redes sociais da cadeia de valor, redes sociais institucionais e redes sociais de conhecimento sobre o estrangeiro), enquanto os recursos da empresa estão negativamente relacionados com estas mesmas medidas de redes sociais internacionais. Esta dissertação também encontrou suporte empírico para os impactos positivos que o alerta empreendedor, a capacidade de absorção de conhecimento, as redes da cadeia de valor e as estratégias de diferenciação pela inovação e pela qualidade e serviço exercem na performance internacional das INVs, bem como para o impacto negativo que as redes sociais institucionais têm nessa mesma medida de performance.International Entrepreneurship (IE) literature has focused on the relationship between several antecedents - usually related to the entrepreneur, the firm, the industry or the markets - and the main IE process outcomes, namely, internationalization (degree, scope or speed) and performance. However, the literature that answers the why question related to the International New Ventures’ (INVs) internationalization and that examines the influence of managerial ‘actions’ shaping these firms’ internationalization process is still scarce. Drawing from resource-based theory, network theory, and knowledge-based view theoretical approaches, this research aims to contribute to broadening the theoretical and empirical knowledge about the INVs’ internationalization process. The present investigation analyzes the influence of antecedents on managerial actions and the influence of the latter on INVs’ international performance. Hence, this dissertation attempts to fulfill the following research objectives: i) to develop a holistic framework for the INVs’ internationalization process, where a set of managerial actions as mediators explain the connection between the INVs’ antecedents and their international performance; ii) to identify relevant managerial actions of the INVs’ internationalization process; iii) to identify its antecedents related to the industry, the entrepreneur, and the firm itself, and iv) to understand the influence of the diverse managerial actions on INVs’ international performance. The test of the hypotheses was made through the use of survey data combined with secondary data from eInforma Dun & Bradstreet database, for 416 Portuguese INVs founded between the years 2000 and 2009. The results of this dissertation contribute to fill two main gaps concerning: i) the development and assessment of a holistic framework of the INVs’ internationalization process, and ii) the examination of several managerial decisions or actions in the context of this process. The managerial ‘actions’ considered in this research were: international social networking, entrepreneurial alertness, absorptive capacity, and competitive generic strategies. This dissertation provides empirical support for the relationships between several entrepreneurs’ characteristics (such as educational level, number of foreign languages spoken, interest in traveling, professional and educational experience abroad, professional experience in management and risk perception) and firm’s antecedents (firm resources, foreign market knowledge, entrepreneurial orientation, and managerial capabilities). There is also empirical support for the positive relationships between some industry characteristics and firm’s antecedents: technological turbulence is associated with entrepreneurial orientation and competitive intensity is related to firm’s managerial capabilities. Additionally, an association was found between several firm antecedents and firm actions variables. Foreign market knowledge, entrepreneurial orientation and management capabilities are positively related with both, entrepreneurial alertness and absorptive capability. Entrepreneurial orientation and management capabilities are positively associated with all the competitive generic strategies identified (innovation differentiation, marketing differentiation, quality and service differentiation and cost leadership). Finally, entrepreneurial orientation and foreign market knowledge are positively related with international social networks measures (value chain social network, institutional social network and foreign knowledge social network), while firm resources is negatively related with the same measures of international social networks. This dissertation also found empirical support for the positive effect that entrepreneurial alertness, absorptive capacity, value chain social network and marketing and quality and service differentiation strategies exert on INVs’ international performance, and negative support for the relationship between institutional social network and INVs international performance.N/

FDI Spillovers at Regional Level: Evidence from Portugal

This paper aims to establish whether geographical proximity between the locations of multinational firms and domestic firms facilitates the occurrence of FDI spillovers. Using data for Portugal, this hypothesis is clearly confirmed. However, the impact varies according to whether the externalities considered are horizontal or vertical. In the first case, the impact is negative, which may result from the competition effect at regional level. With regard to vertical externalities, a positive impact through backward linkages is observed. These results raise important implications for the definition of economic policies aiming to attract FDI and promote regional development.vertical spillovers; horizontal spillovers; multinational firms productivity; FDI.