The largest financial groups from emerging economies Location determinants of foreign affiliates and cultural differences

Purpose Numerous articles contain recommendations as to how emerging countries can attract foreign direct investment on terms that are beneficial to both the investing firm and the host society but very few explore the conditions for firms from emerging countries to invest abroad. The purpose of this paper is twofold: the first is the documentation of the preferred locations of foreign affiliates for the largest financial groups headquartered in emerging countries; and, second, is to identify some of the determinants associated with the location-specific advantages of these host countries. Design/methodology/approach The analysis of the internationalization process of these groups is based on a list of top financial groups ranked by total assets. In the empirical section, the factors that explain the choice of these locations by multinational firms are categorized as resources seeking, market seeking, efficiency-seeking variables and cultural variables. Findings There is empirical evidence that institutions prefer to invest in foreign locations that minimize some dimensions of the culture. Other factors like the role of efficiency variables, i.e. trade efficiency, political risk and government effectiveness, in host countries also have a strong impact on the determinants of the internationalization process. Originality/value The paper puts forward a framework for analyzing determinants of foreign direct investment of multinational financial groups from emerging economies.