Abstract
This paper analyses both the incidence and motivation for transnational joint ventures between UK and EU companies in relation to the structure of competition. It is based on a survey of 812 UK manufacturing PLCs and case studies in forty-six companies with a total of sixty-nine joint ventures. The results highlight the importance of transnational JVs in the EU and suggest that they are unlikely to have significantly reduced the level of competition in the Union. The motivations which underlie these ventures can be broken into two groups. Large firms undertake JVs in response to competitive pressures within an increasingly unified single market. Small and medium-sized firms undertake JVs in order to penetrate discrete national markets.
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*Dr. Andrew Millington is a Lecturer in Business Economics at the University of Bath. His principal research interest is in the field of European business and he has published frequently in this field, including a research monograph and a report for the EU Commission.
**Brian Bayliss is Professor of Business Economics at the University of Bath. His principal area of research is in European business and logistics. He has recently chaired the committee of enquiry for the EU on road freight transport in the single European market and completed a major project, published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), on strategic investment decisions.
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Millington, A., Bayliss, B. Transnational Joint Ventures Between UK and EU Manufacturing Companies and the Structure of Competition. J Int Bus Stud 26, 239–254 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490173
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490173