Factors in the siting and commercial behaviour of multinational companies in Spain

Résumé

The extent of the process of internationalisation and the important role that multinational companies have played in it have awakened a growing analytical interest regarding the behaviour of this type of agent. This has given rise to the creation of several hypotheses largely complementing each other- which, though not constituting a complete theory, enable empirical analysis to focus on those internal and external elements which impinge on their decisions on foreign investment, and, stemming from this, on the makeup of the activities of their subsidiaries in the countries where they are located. It is not cur aim in this to have an abstract discussion on the theory of internationalisation but rather to present the results we have obtained from our research - inspired by it- on the type of strategies follwed by subsidiaries of German and Dutch multinationals located in spain. Though our work covers production, commercial, technological and the use of human capital aspects of these strategies, in this chapter we refer to the factors determining the locating of these firms in Spain. Furthermore, given the importance with along with these factors, is acquired by their relationship with domestic and outside markets, we also analyse their commercial behaviour.