市政外交與外商直接投資的區位選擇：以台灣直轄市為例

Abstract

The intended aim of this study was to determine the relevance of relationship building through diplomatic policy at the local government level when attracting foreign direct investment to the four largest cities in Taiwan (Taipei, New Taipei City, Taichung, and Kaohsiung).\r\nTaiwan was the focus of our study due to a number of factors, including; geographic location (the home of two thirds of the worlds middle class by 2030), relative transparency of government operation, resistance to deindustrialization (and therefore suitability to various forms of FDI), and due to a new trend of FDI flow into the Asia-Pacific region. In order to address the central question of our study we selected two leading frameworks, Dunning’s OLI model and Wells and Wint’s IPA theory, to guide our examination of FDI frequency among Taiwanese cities. We combine the two existing methods and introduce a new “relationship building” or “diplomacy” conception to Dunning’s existing framework.\r\nEmploying a conditional logit model, we provide evidence that, in addition to agglomeration, infrastructure, and market size from Dunning’s model, all of our newly formulated “relationship” variables came up as statistically relevant. Next, we further determine the relevance of our new relationship variable by garnering the opinions of FOE managers currently operating in the cities associated with our study. In order to design an appropriate questionnaire, we conduct a set of comprehensive interviews with local diplomatic departments in Taiwan.\r\nBy combining the outcomes from the quantitative analysis with the survey responses from FOE managers, this study introduces a new diplomatic variable, through city-country relationships, to the FDI research agenda.