28 JAN 2026 (WED) 16:35 - 17:05

The Encountering of Life Insurance FDI with a Socialist Market Economy in China: Social Embeddedness, Regional Contingency and Diverse Pathways    

Mr LEUNG Wai Cheong    

( Supervisor: Prof G C S Lin )

Abstract:

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in emerging economies has become a widespread phenomenon in the contemporary era of globalization. The proposed research aims to broaden the theoretical framework of locational determinants of life insurance FDI in China. Conventional theories of industrial location have been concerned with the manufacturing goods, with determinants dichotomized into demand and supply perspectives. 

Current literature discusses the location of life insurance FDI, mostly drawing on Dunning’s OLI framework. Demand-side factors transformed location-specific endowments of the OLI paradigm, fueling market attractiveness by adding institutional and policy incentives, among other factors. Supply-side factors appear as ownership-specific endowments that reinforce the company’s overall inherent advantages, inclusive of cost considerations. The thesis of internal (FDI holder) and external (host country) determinants of services FDI is problematic, as it is challenging to appreciate the possible spatial variations reflected in the specific societal and situational elements at different Chinese administrative levels. The current framework fails to explain why a foreign life insurer would choose, for instance, Shanghai and not Beijing, given that both municipal cities have comparable OSEs and LSEs. The research aims to propose complementary theories that are not commonly adopted in geography to enrich the existing research framework of life insurance FDI. 

The proposed research challenges the notion that multinational corporations are homogeneous entities and disputes decisions regarding life insurance FDI locations solely based on the premise of profit maximization grounded in considerations of external and internal determinants. The research objectives are to identify spatial variations in life insurance FDI across China’s provinces and cities to understand the locational determinants of FDI using published insurance statistics and fieldwork data. At the macro-level, life insurance FDI will be mapped out across 298 Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above. The mesoscale will call for a comparative study of the life insurance landscape between two Chinese provinces. A comparison of a major foreign life insurer operating in two Chinese provinces will be investigated at the microscale. Research findings will potentially contribute to enhancing understanding of the differential locational determinants of life insurance in academic research, inform policy implications, and enlighten business planning practices.