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• Examine how the cross-border M&As strategies adopted by Chinese listed firms are affected by host countries' GVC embeddedness. • Firms are more likely to conduct large-scale M&As when a host country has higher backward GVC embeddedness and a relatively lower position within GVC. • Host countries' capital intensities, total factor productivity, and labor productivity moderate firm M&A location preferences along GVC. The global value chain (GVC) position of a host country is an important benchmark for firms from home countries to determine their degree of embeddedness within the chain and implement corresponding internationalization strategies. Although there have been a certain number of existing studies related to GVC from various aspects, the links between a host country's GVC embeddedness and firm-level cross-border activities stemming from home countries are surprisingly unexplored in the current literature. This study fills this gap and applies the feasible generalized least squares model to examine how the cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) strategies adopted by Chinese listed firms from 2005 to 2015 are affected by host countries' GVC embeddedness, with particular reference to their forward and backward embeddedness as well as the degree of participation along GVC. It is found that Chinese firms are more likely to conduct large-scale cross-border M&As when a host country has higher backward GVC embeddedness and a relatively lower position within GVC. This conclusion remains robust after considering alternative indices, sample range adjustments, and issues of self-selection bias. Further empirical discussions show that the Belt and Road Initiative results in more balanced M&A structures. Additionally, it is empirically demonstrated that host countries' capital intensities, total factor productivity, and labor productivity moderate Chinese firm M&A location preferences along GVC. This paper has far-reaching policy implications for the internationalization strategies adopted by Chinese firms and offers important insights into how firms could effectively utilize cross-border M&As to conduct optimal international investments around the globe. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the sample of Chinese listed firms from 2003 to 2019, this paper investigated the herd behaviour in cross‐border mergers and acquisition (CB M&A) decisions using ordinary least‐squares (OLS) and feasible generalised least squares (FGLS) models. It was found that the Chinese listed firm CB M&A location decisions were similar to the choices made by other firms in the same industry in the previous year, with the bellwether firms in high industry market positions being the key reference objects. The herd behaviour was found to be more pronounced when the firms were younger and smaller, there was strong internal industry competition, estranged bilateral political distances, and poor host country governance. The quantification of the economic consequences of the herd behaviour revealed a negative effect on the short‐term performances after the CB M&As but improved firm performances over the long term, with these improvements being more significant when the herd behaviour was led by bellwether firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper established a combined dataset from 2004 to 2015 for 129 host countries and matched them with 1193 Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) events by Chinese listed firms. Four variables were designed to proxy the agglomeration effects of Chinese OFDI at both an industry and country level. Probit and FGLS estimation methods were used to analyze whether the Chinese listed firm location choices were affected by the agglomeration level. It was found that the agglomeration effect of Chinese OFDI on host country selection was obvious, as Chinese firms were often found to follow other Chinese firms and invest in host countries where Chinese investment was concentrated; however, it was also found that Chinese firms did not choose countries where there was a high concentration of non-Chinese FDI. The agglomeration effect on Chinese OFDI industry selection was also significant. Firms were found to invest in industries that already had large Chines OFDI agglomeration or high host-country industrial agglomeration. Further investigations found that the "Belt and Road" Initiative (BRI) was effective in guiding location decisions. Firms were found to invest more along the "Belt and Road" route after the BRI was launched; however, large State-owned listed firms with higher leverage but lower productivity and profitability were found to more often invest along the BRI routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]