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Location of International Business Activities pp 8–34Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

MNEs as Border-Crossing Multi-location Enterprises: The Role of Discontinuities in Geographic Space

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Abstract

Spurred by the classic work of Dunning, MNE location has become the focus of a growing body of research in the field. In this paper we argue that international business (IB) research examining the spatial dimension has serious weaknesses, stemming from its traditional assumption of the country as the location unit of analysis. While border-crossing remains the key research context of IB, placing it within a general spatial framework that recognizes both international and subnational spatial heterogeneity opens up vastnew vistas for research. Analyzing MNEs as border-crossing multi-location enterprises allows the researcher to distinguish between (discrete) border effects and (continuous) distance effects and undertake a more fine-grained analysis of location. Within such analysis national borders may appear as qualitative discontinuities in space, that is, points at which spatial heterogeneity changes abruptly. However, subnational spatial heterogeneity is often the characteristic that drives firm strategy as MNEs decide to locate in parfiicular agglomerations and not at random locations within a country. The complex firms that lB scholars study typically include multiple units within the same country, so that a complete analysis requires considering both subnational distance effects as well as international border effects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Sjoerd Beugelsdijk

  2. Temple University, Philadelphia, USA

    Ram Mudambi

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  1. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk
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  2. Ram Mudambi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA

    John Cantwell

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Beugelsdijk, S., Mudambi, R. (2014). MNEs as Border-Crossing Multi-location Enterprises: The Role of Discontinuities in Geographic Space. In: Cantwell, J. (eds) Location of International Business Activities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137472311_2

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