Spatial determinants of Japanese manufacturing firms in the Czech Republic

This study casts light upon the locational distribution of industrial activites of Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) in the Czech Republic at the regional level from 1999 through 2004. In our study, McFadden's conditional logit model is applied to trace the dynamic effects of a series of factors on locational choices of Japanese MNCs. We found evidence that the locational choice of Japanese MNCs is positively affected by industrial agglomeration effects resulting from potential interactions across and within existing Japanese and foreign firms owing to mitigation of various transaction costs. In addition, the presence of well-developed infrastructure systems and high wage level determine the location choice of Japanese MNCs, while distance matters. The empirical evaluation also contends that spatial determinants of MNCs vary by nationality in the Czech Republic. It is evident that agglomeration externalities and distance emerge as critical driving factors for Japanese MNCs and Asian MNCs. On the other hand, it has been verified that fiscal and financial incentives tend to highly motivate German MNCs, while local demand conditions have a great impact on Anglo-American MNCs. --regional attributes,agglomeration,Japanese FDI,conditional logit model,the Czech Republic,regional disparity,Japanese manufacturing start-ups,localization

Ownership strategies in post-financial crisis Southeast Asia: The case of Japanese firms

Existing research on entry mode determinants is firmly grounded in the transaction cost and resource-based literature while location-and institution-specific characteristics lack attention. The primary goal of this article is to address the determinants of entry mode by Japanese manufacturing firms in Southeast Asia after the financial crisis on the basis of a theoretical framework that integrates firm-specific, industry-specific, location-and institution-specific factors. Results show that locational factors make significant contributions to the understanding of the entry mode selection of MNEs and partly override the effect of firm-specific factors. --entry mode,transaction costs,resource commitment,location factors,country risk,Japanese manufacturing firms,Southeast Asia

Spatial determinants of Japanese manufacturing firms in the Czech Republic

This study casts light upon the locational distribution of industrial activites of Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) in the Czech Republic at the regional level from 1999 through 2004. In our study, McFadden's conditional logit model is applied to trace the dynamic effects of a series of factors on locational choices of Japanese MNCs. We found evidence that the locational choice of Japanese MNCs is positively affected by industrial agglomeration effects resulting from potential interactions across and within existing Japanese and foreign firms owing to mitigation of various transaction costs. In addition, the presence of well-developed infrastructure systems and high wage level determine the location choice of Japanese MNCs, while distance matters. The empirical evaluation also contends that spatial determinants of MNCs vary by nationality in the Czech Republic. It is evident that agglomeration externalities and distance emerge as critical driving factors for Japanese MNCs and Asian MNCs. On the other hand, it has been verified that fiscal and financial incentives tend to highly motivate German MNCs, while local demand conditions have a great impact on Anglo-American MNCs

Ownership strategies in post-financial crisis Southeast Asia: The case of Japanese firms

Existing research on entry mode determinants is firmly grounded in the transaction cost and resource-based literature while location-and institution-specific characteristics lack attention. The primary goal of this article is to address the determinants of entry mode by Japanese manufacturing firms in Southeast Asia after the financial crisis on the basis of a theoretical framework that integrates firm-specific, industry-specific, location-and institution-specific factors. Results show that locational factors make significant contributions to the understanding of the entry mode selection of MNEs and partly override the effect of firm-specific factors

Institutional support and women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explores the extent to which local institutional forces affect female entrepreneurial venture performance. Drawing upon a unified theoretical framework of social cognitive and institutional perspectives, the authors scrutinize the complex interplay among institutional support, entrepreneurial cognitions and entrepreneurial success. Design/methodology/approach Based on a unique sample of 202 female entrepreneurs in 30 provinces throughout Japan, this paper grounded social cognitive theory and attempted to clear the relation between women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy and venture performance empirically by statistical analysis. Findings The findings of structural equation modeling indicate that women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy is a strong and useful mediator of the effect of informal institutional support on venture performance. Unexpectedly, formal institutional support shows no correlation with entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Practical implications This study proposes that perceived social legitimacy may lead to increased entrepreneurial self-efficacy, thereby enhancing venture performance. This finding can clarify the institutional force pathways to foster entrepreneurial confidence. Originality/value This study contributes to the field of female entrepreneurship by examining institutional antecedents of women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Focused on the case of Japanese female entrepreneurs, this study is unique and valuable

Japanese Multinationals in European Transition Economies: Motivation, Location and Structural Patterns

The main purpose of this thesis is to provide systematic and rigorous research into the patterns, processes and corporate strategies of Japanese manufacturing MNEs in European transition economies. Understanding why Japanese MNEs decided to initiate production in or to relocate existing factories from Western Europe to CEE at a particular time constitutes our first significant concern. The subject of the examination to follow is to scrutinise local market environments in the CEE region. The quality of both economic and institutional forces embedded in national business environments is clearly paramount importance. In order to determine the appropriate FDI strategy in terms of competitiveness, efficiency, control over vital resources and legitimacy, firms should keep their eyes on the host country’s transition environment. This thesis will also aim to investigate what determines investment decisions by Japanese multinationals at the subnational level and what variables are most important to operating successfully in the CEE region based on a combination of theories. The results will help make crucial practice-oriented implications both for prospective investors and for host-based policy developers

Multinational firms as emissaries of decent work: worker responses to progressive HRM in a foreign retailer in Japan

Purpose The paper aims to provide an understanding of how the transfer of progressive human resource management (HRM) practices may or may fail to render multinational enterprises (MNEs) institutional entrepreneurs creating change in job quality and decent work to underprivileged workers in the low-pay retail sector in Japan. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on survey questionnaire data and interviews with workers and management in a foreign retailer in Japan. Findings The findings suggest that even where MNEs may provide some measurable material improvements in job quality, in this case equal pay for equal work, the total outcomes are nevertheless shaped by institutional context and constraints. In this case, the improvement in pay was intertwined with flexibility demands that were possible to meet for some workers but not others. In particular, women with care responsibilities and competing demands on their time were not able to experience “decent work” in the same way as others. Research limitations/implications The study had a relatively low response rate, due to lack of discretion over time experienced by workers in Japan, as well as limited data on program outcomes, with interviews conducted with a small number of participants. Practical implications The study suggests that spaces and opportunities exist for MNEs to diverge from dominant practices in given host country locations and exercise a level of agency as emissaries of decent work but successful outcomes require a very thorough understanding of individual worker experiences within the institutional constraints of given environments. Social implications The study offers insights into the complexities of initiatives by MNEs to contribute to the provision of decent work, particularly for workers in underprivileged positions including women in low-pay sectors such as retail, as firm-level practices lead to variable outcomes when filtered through local institutions. Originality/value The study brings together a focus on firm-level practices that inform much of the international HRM and international management scholarship with an emphasis on the experiences of workers, which is pursued in the sociology of work, to investigate whether MNEs can be actors in the realising of the Sustainable Development Goals around decent work

Development of an X-ray HARP–FEA detector system for high-throughput protein crystallography

A new detector system for protein crystallography based on an X-ray HARP–FEA is presented

Expatriate utilization, subsidiary knowledge creation and performance: the moderating role of subsidiary strategic context

Little research examines the mechanisms for the relationship between expatriate utilization and subsidiary performance. Building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we propose a multi-stage mediation model to explain how expatriate staffing promotes subsidiary financial performance. Our results underscore that expatriate utilization has an indirect, mediated effect on subsidiary financial performance through its links with subsidiaries’ knowledge creation and product performance. Adopting a moderated mediation approach, we also find that the indirect relationship between expatriate utilization and subsidiary product performance via subsidiary knowledge creation is strengthened by the context of transnational strategy as a moderating contingency