International market entry : determinants of Australian exports and direct investment to the United Kingdom

Australia and the UK are both prominent economies in the international arena and share a strong trade and investment relationship. Interestingly, the UK while being a significant destination for Australian exports is an even more significant destination for Australian direct investment, a case anomalous to international trends. Analysis of this case elicits the question as to what factors differentiate between the firms that export and those that FDI. It is imperative to understand the differentiating factors between exports and direct investment as market entry decisions are decisive to the success of firms in international markets. A number of theories of international market entry have developed over the last quarter century, the ownership, location, and internationalisation model (OLI) is used in this study. The importance of the variables developed in this model are identified, and assessed as to their relevance to entry of Australian firms into the UK market through FDI or Exports. Qualitative information is used to support initial quantitative profiling. Results of the investigation indicate that while some variables were at times decisive, they were not predictive at all in other situations. The full interaction of the variables in the model was therefore concluded to be essential to fully differentiate between exports and FDI in all cases.