Our study examines the influence of the local financial conditions in a multinational corporation’s (MNC) home country on its global strategy and market position. Establishing a headquarters in a country grants legitimacy with local stakeholders, which enhances firms’ access to local capital markets. Consequently, MNCs headquartered in a country with favorable financial conditions might gain an advantage over MNCs based in countries with a less advantageous financial environment. To analyze this hypothesis, we utilize local projections and a major policy shift by the Swiss National Bank in January 2015, which involved an exchange rate shock and a substantial interest rate cut to −0.75%. Our analysis shows that Swiss-based MNCs, benefiting from lower domestic interest rates, significantly outperformed their EU-based rivals in terms of investment rates (8.4–9.7% points higher) and employment growth (6.7–9.8% points higher). Moreover, we show that this stimulating effect helped to offset the adverse consequences of the simultaneous appreciation of the domestic currency for Swiss-based MNCs in sectors more reliant on exports. Our results highlight the critical role of local financial conditions and, more broadly, local macroeconomic factors in shaping MNCs’ global strategies and competitive standing.

我们的研究探讨了跨国公司 (MNC) 母国当地金融状况对其全球战略和市场地位的影响。在一个国家设立总部可以赋予当地利益相关者合法性，从而增强公司进入当地资本市场的机会。因此，总部位于金融条件良好国家的跨国公司可能比总部位于金融环境较差国家的跨国公司更具优势。为了分析这一假设，我们利用了当地预测和瑞士国家银行 2015 年 1 月的重大政策转变，其中涉及汇率冲击和利率大幅下调至 -0.75%。我们的分析表明，受益于较低国内利率的瑞士跨国公司在投资率（高出 8.4-9.7 个百分点）和就业增长（高出了 6.7-9.8 个百分点）方面显着优于欧盟竞争对手。此外，我们还发现，这种刺激效应有助于抵消本币同时升值对瑞士跨国公司在更依赖出口的行业带来的不利影响。我们的研究结果凸显了当地金融状况以及更广泛的当地宏观经济因素在塑造跨国公司全球战略和竞争地位方面的关键作用。