This article analyses the interfirm variation in export behaviour of Indian enterprises in 13 manufacturing industries using Tobit models. The main contention of the analysis, which is supported by the empirical findings, is that the technology factor could be important for explaining export behaviour of developing country enterprises in medium and low technology industries. The firm size ‐ export performance relationship is found to be predominantly inverted U‐shaped. A higher level of automation is an advantage only in high technology industries. In countries with large home markets government negotiations with MNEs regarding export obligations could be an effective means of expanding manufactured exports.

Technology, firm size and export behaviour in developing countries: The case of Indian enterprises

Firm size, opportunities for adaptation and in-house R & D activity in developing countries: the case of Indian manufacturing

This article tests two empirical hypotheses: one, MNE affiliates perform distinctly better than their local counterparts in the export markets in a globalised economy, and two, the MNE affiliates have greater comparative advantages in high-tech than in low- and medium-tech industries. Tobit estimates of a large data set of Indian manufacturing firms for the late 1990s provide relatively weak support to the first hypothesis. A disaggregated industry-group-wise analysis indicates that MNE affiliates perform no better than their local counterparts in high-tech industries. Thus, even with a higher level of integration with the global economy in the 1990s India appears to have failed in attracting efficiency-seeking FDI on a significant scale, particularly in high-tech industries. R&D and efficiency of manpower emerge as two significant determinants of international competitiveness in technology-based sectors (high- and medium-high tech sectors). Imports of raw materials enhance the export competitiveness of f...

Liberalisation, Multinational Enterprises and Export Performance: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

The study extends research on the geographic scope, product diversification and performance relationship by exploring both the antecedents and consequences of geographic scope (multinationality). In so doing, it addresses a fundamental criticism of the geographic scope-performance relationship; namely, that the observed positive relationship between geographic scope and performance is spurious because it is the possession of proprietary assets that are the foundation of superior performance, not expansion into international markets per se. We tested the research model with data on the corporate performance of 399 Japanese manufacturing firms. In the Partial Least Squares analyses used to examine the study's six main hypotheses, we demonstrate that geographic scope was positively associated with firm profitability, even when the competing effect of proprietary assets on firm performance was considered. Further, we find that performance was not related to the extent of product diversification; although investment levels in rent-generating, proprietary assets were related to the extent of product diversification.

Geographic scope, product diversification and the corporate performance of japanese firms

Technology acquisition, de-regulation and competitiveness: a study of Indian automobile industry

1 Introduction 2. Policy of the Government of India Towards Foreign Investment 3. Place of Multinational or Foreign Enterprises in Indian Industry: Overall and Sectoral Shares 4. Determinants of Inter-Industry Distribution of Foreign Shares in Indian Manufacturing: A Test of the Internationalisation Theory 5. Foreign and Local Enterprises in Indian Manufacturing: An Analysis of Discriminating Characteristics 6. Determinants of Profitability of Foreign and Local Firms in Indian Manufacturing 7. Export Behaviour of Foreign and Local Firms in Indian Manufacturing 8. Summary and Conclusions

Nagesh Kumar

Papers

Multinational Enterprises in India: Industrial Distribution, Characteristics, and Performance