Foreign Owned Firms

Foreign-owned firms (FoFs) can have significant implications in terms of employment, income and technology for the national economies involved. This book compares the efficiency of domestic and FoFs, and also looks at the performance of FoFs in several different countries. Contributors take a broad variety of research approaches with a focus on the use of firm-specific data from France, Germany, Austria, and Sweden. They conclude that foreign ownership matters but the real difference is not between FoFs and national firms but between multinational and domestic firms.

In this volume, leading scholars in international business and business history in the United States, Europe and Japan examine the experiences of a range of firms in the United States. They survey British, Canadian, French, German, Spanish and Japanese firms, and span a range of sectors including automobiles, banking, electricals, petroleum and steel. Together, their contributions present a unique evolutionary and comparative perspective on the management and performance of foreign companies in the United States since 1945. This book is essential reading for all those with a professional or academic interest in international business, management, business history or business in the United States.

The purpose of the book is to extend and develop the literature on foreign direct investment (FDI) and multinational corporation (MNCs) subsidiaries. There are several reasons for studying foreign investment and ownership. First, firms need to identify which host country industry factors are important in choosing among the various type of equity ownership (e.g. international joint ventures or wholly-owned subsidiary). Second, international diversification through foreign market entry can provide growth and profitability at rates unavailable in home markets. A third reason this warrants some attention is that type of ownership can affect attempts to counter international competition by engaging foreign rivals on their home turf. Fourth, firms have the option of choosing the appropriate equity ownership for international markets based on balancing their resources, capabilities, and international experience with their desire for ownership and control. This book extends the literature in FDI by providing empirical support for several theories and previously defined and/or tested constructs. For example, the parent and subsidiary's factors measured in this study suggest the importance of internalization and ownership advantages of Dunning's eclectic theory.

In the past decade, a number of major Japanese companies have come under the control of foreign firms. Using a case-based approach, this book looks at how take-overs by foreign companies have changed HR and organisational practices traditionally associated with Japanese firms.