Abstract: From the perspective of social influences, this paper conducts an empirical investigation of the problem of location choice of Chinese FDI in the US with the sample of 741 cases between 2000 and 2013. The study finds that Chinese immigrant networks is an important factor in explaining location choice of Chinese FDI in the US, because Chinese enterprises tend to invest in the states with well-developed Chinese immigrant networks. Meanwhile, inter-organizational imitation occurs in the location choice of Chinese FDI in the US as well. When Chinese enterprises make location choices, they would refer to previous decisions of the enterprises similar to them. In addition, as a means to reduce uncertainty, immigrant networks and inter-organizational imitation are not totally unrelated, rather, they can be substitutes for each other.

Key words: outward foreign direct investment; location choice; immigrant networks; inter-organizational imitation