Location choice for Japanese frozen food industry in East Asia using domestic market access with the penetration rate of refrigerators

In the 2000s, after the Asian financial crisis, East Asian countries achieved rapid economic growth. Many Japanese frozen food companies focused on East Asian markets, but faced problems with the cold chain and refrigerators. In this study, we use the penetration rate of household refrigerators in the host country to calculate market access, which we then use to estimate the location choice model. The results of the conditional logistic model show that the location choice for Japanese frozen food companies is affected not only by the penetration rate of refrigerators, but also by traditional cost-reduction factors, such as wages and investment promotion policies in the host country. In addition, domestic market access encourages Japanese FDI in East Asia.