Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment in Finland: The main motives and obstacles
Koistinen, Emilia (2015)
Koistinen, Emilia
Arcada - Nylands svenska yrkeshögskola
2015
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015052610409
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015052610409
Tiivistelmä
The objective of this study is to identify the main motives and obstacles behind the current Chinese outward foreign direct investment in Finland. Chinese outward foreign direct investment has become prominent global phenomena and China holds the position as the second largest investor in the world. In the recent years Chinese investors have displayed increased interest in Finland as an investment destination. Therefore, understanding the underlying motives behind the investment decisions has become ever more important. Chinas’ political and economic environment has a direct impact on the FDI. However, due to the novelty of the phenomena, there are is no coherent theory that explains the push and pulls trigger of Chinese investment. Therefore the theoretical framework of this study is based on the leading foreign direct investment theories, which are being viewed from a macro and micro level perspectives. The main theory of this study is Dunning’s taxonomy of FDI motives, which is used in evaluation of the Chinese FDI motives in Finland. The empirical study is conducted by using mixed methodology, which includes both quantitative and qualitative methods. The primary data was collected by in-depth interviews and government publications. The secondary data was collected from books, academic journals, newspapers and statistics. The findings of this study reveal Chinese investment in Finland is prompted by market and strategic asset seeking motives. Chinese companies enter the Finnish market to be closer to customers and suppliers, in search of talent and entering a larger geographical area. Acquiring innovations, new technologies and assets have attracted Chinese investor’s capital. The main obstacle to attract investment is unfamiliarity of Finland among the Chinese investors. The prospective investors regard small market size, high operation cost and taxation as main hindrances. The outlook of Finland as an investment destination for Chinese ODI was considered optimistic if promotion and sales skills of Finnish enterprises improve.