FDI motives redux: exploring behavioral assumptions in international business research

What is it about?

Close reading of leading IB journals shows that internationalization motives are rarely explicitly discussed, habitually classified according to one theory or taken as a control variable in otherwise quantitative studies. Motivations are presupposed. (van Tulder, 2015: 36-37) It is generally acknowledged that there are four main motives for [foreign direct] investment: to seek natural resources; to seek new markets; to restructure existing foreign production through rationalization; and to seek strategically related created assets. (Narula and Dunning, 2000:150) The discussion of motives remains important because they are indicative of the potential consequences of MNE activities (Narula and Dunning, 2010:278)

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