ABSTRACT
Motives for directly investing abroad can be very heterogeneous and also intertwined. The strategic-asset-seeking investment orientation is a reflection of a long-term and internationally-oriented strategy which is encouraging, although strong demand for strategic assets could also be stimulated by the unavailability of other resources. The sequential internationalization pattern suggests that the efficiency-seeking motive will gain in importance by enhancing investments abroad. Such investments facilitate the continuing relocation of resources in pursuit of the maximum-efficiency objective. Competitive advantages can serve as a proxy for ownership-specific advantages which, according to Dunning's ownership, location and internalization (OLI) framework, are a necessary condition for outward investment. For keeping and enlarging their foreign market shares, they have had to enter through outward investment. The motivation for outward investments did not change from 1999 to 2001, although the significant increase of foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows to more risky destinations promoted the role of host-country factors like risks.
