中国企业对外直接投资的区位选择——基于专用性投资与比较制度优势的视角

Location Choice of Chinese Firms’OFDI from the Perspective of Specific Investment and Comparative Institutional Advantages

关于中国企业对外直接投资的区位选择,同时存在“制度风险偏好”和“制度风险规避”两种对立观点,造成一定的理论和现实困扰。文章从专用性投资与比较制度优势的视角考察中国企业对外直接投资的区位选择规律。基于fDi Markets数据库中2006—2017年中国企业绿地投资数据,本文研究发现:(1)专用性投资强度高的行业投资倾向于制度环境良好的国家,而专用性投资强度低的行业投资倾向于资源丰富但制度环境欠佳的国家;(2)相较于契约制度,那些专用性投资强度高的对外直接投资更看重东道国良好的产权制度。这些结论表明,在对外直接投资的决策中,中国企业并不存在单纯的制度偏好,而是根据投资行业的专用性投资强度特征和东道国的制度环境特征做出彼此匹配的理性抉择。

There are two competing views on the location choice of Chinese firms’outward foreign direct investment(OFDI):the institutional risk appetite vs.the institutional risk aversion,which leads to some theoretical and practical problems.From the perspective of specific investment and comparative institutional advantages,this paper analyzes the location choice of Chinese firms’OFDI,using data of Chinese firms’greenfield investment for the period of 2006-2017.The results show that high-intensity specific investment tends to be in countries with a good institutional environment,while low-intensity specific investment prefers countries with rich resources but a poor institutional environment.Further analysis shows that,compared to the contract system,Chinese companies value more the sound property rights protection system in the host country for high-intensity specific investment.These findings suggest that Chinese firms do not have a simple institutional preference,but make rational location choices by weighing both the intensity of the specific investment and the quality of the institutional environment in the host country.