Chinese and Indian Multinationals: A Firm-Level Analysis of their Investments in Europe

In this paper we aim to contribute to the literature on Chinese and Indian multinationals investing in Europe, through an empirical investigation of their identity and characteristics and the association between these features and their international business strategies. The investigation exploits a dataset at the level of the investing firms. In relation to mode of entry, we find that the greenfield is a more likely option for large-sized companies, and that weak propensity for innovation is associated with a low probability to enter through a merger or acquisition. A high propensity for innovation is related to asset-seeking FDI, while high profitability is needed to invest in the core EU countries. Finally, very large size characterizes companies that invest in more than country.