ABSTRACT
According to the eclectic approach of Dunning (2009), multinationals have always sought certain resources in those countries where they have been locating (localization advantages). So, a lot of studies show how multinationals coming from advanced countries seek in other countries factors such as cheap labour or natural resources that they do not have in their countries of origin. These advantages of location have been traditionally analysed from the national perspective. In the last years, however, researchers have begun to give importance to the regional clusters and industrial districts as poles of attraction of foreign investment. From this point of view multinationals do not seek only the low-cost workforce or natural resources but also the knowledge resources that are generated in an industrial district.
On the other hand, the growing presence of multinationals from emerging and developing countries (EMNEs), has led the academic literature to be concerned with the study of them. In this sense, many researchers are asking whether the factors that explain the international expansion of these multinationals are the same as in the case of multinationals from advanced countries (AMNEs). Thus, for instance, some studies determine that the pursuit of knowledge in the foreign markets is a specific objective of EMNEs, while AMNEs seek, rather, to natural resources or low-cost resources. From this perspective, clusters or industrial districts would be poles of attraction, especially for EMNEs.
This chapter links the two lines of research in order to explain why AMNEs or EMNEs, when choosing their location, prefer those destinations or regions where a cluster related to its activity has been developed. In a specific way, the study analyses the investment in Spain by foreign hotel chains. So, after identifying multinational hotels located in Spain and determine if they come from advanced countries or emerging/developing countries, the work tries to find out if there is any relationship between foreign investment and the existing tourist districts in Spain. A total of 114 foreign hotel chains located in Spain were identified, 95 coming from advanced countries and 19 from emerging or developing countries. All of them have 201 subsidiaries, 171 corresponding to AMNEs and 30 to EMNEs.
