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How to make peripheral cities attractive for foreign investors: An agency perspective
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DOI：10.1016/j.jwb.2026.101743.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
City-level research in international business (IB) is gaining momentum, primarily focusing on global cities. However, a major share of green foreign direct investment (FDI) is aimed towards peripheral cities, challenging traditional location criteria and assumptions about investment flows. Yet, not all peripheral cities manage to attract these investments. To uncover how peripheral cities can become attractive to green energy FDI, we examine the pre-investment stage of location choice process. By drawing on concepts from evolutionary economic geography and the IB literature on cities, we conducted a real-time comparative case study of three Nordic peripheral cities. Through the analysis of 57 interviews, quantitative FDI data, and a collection of press releases and reports, we uncover both long-term strategic development and short-term adaptive responses by which cities develop characteristics that attract green energy FDI. This allows us to zoom in on processes seldom discussed in the IB literature. Based on our findings, we argue that the characteristics that make global cities attractive for FDI in general take on distinctive meanings in the context of green energy FDI. Peripheral cities can transform themselves into appealing destinations by improving their: (1) strategic industrial connectivity, (2) supportive business environment, and (3) attractive quality of life. Furthermore, we contribute to the IB literature by identifying the conditions and types of agency needed to develop these characteristics, creating a typology of city agency. We demonstrate that cities are not merely locations of international business activity, but actors with agency.
Keywords:
City agency
Core–periphery
Evolutionary economic geography
Green energy FDI
Green transition
Multinational corporation
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