The relatively low level of internationalization in Japan’s service industries is a cause of real concern among policy-makers and service industry executives. Explanations have focused on distinctive features of Japan’s culture, particularly its service culture, and idiosyncratically...

An empirical analysis of imputed returns on international and domestic sales suggests that neither US nor Japanese manufacturing firms consistently used domestic profits to subsidize foreign operations. Apart from the early 1990s, when the yen was particularly strong, Japanese firms generally...

This paper empirically tests the impact of oligopolistic reaction and some firm–related and host country–related factors on FDI activities in the U.S. tire and textile industries. The results reveal that in an oligopolistic industry, firms' motivation of FDI is based on the behavior of...

We analyze the nature of international competition among multinational firms in the tire industry. Using the frameworks of the theories of oligopolistic reaction and foreign direct investment, we find that the firms' investment patterns are related to the number and identities of competitors,...

This paper analyzes Japanese manufacturing firms' export behavior and their performance. In a slow growth era, leading firms' and minor firms' export ratio tended to be less than that of follower (medium market share) firms in the same industry; there appears to be an inverted-U shape between...

Analyzing the timing, patterns, and competitive interactions of foreign direct investments (FDIs), we find evidence that Japanese automobile manufacturers compete selectively with their domestic rivals. While some firms appear to follow rivals’ investments, they also steer away from markets...