THE ROLE OF EXCHANGE RATE IN SINO-U.S. BILATERAL TRADE

We use the error component two-stage least squares estimation method to examine the effects of the Sino-U.S. exchange rate and the weighted exchange rate between the United States and other Asian countries on the Sino-U.S. trade patterns. Our study suggests that both the exchange rates have contributed to China's increased trade surplus with the United States. China has imported intermediate goods from the Asian countries, produced final goods using its cheap labor, and exported those goods to the United States. This is especially true for bilateral trade of high-tech manufacturing goods. Our study also reveals that the U.S. bilateral trade balance could improve if China appreciates its currency (Yuan) against the U.S. dollar. ( JEL F14, F10, F19)     

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN MEXICO,CRIME, AND ECONOMIC FORCES

This paper re‐examines inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the 32 subnational Mexican states based on quarterly data from 2005 to 2015, which includes rising drug‐related crimes. We estimate our models using panel data methods by type of crime, state‐level indicators (real wages and electricity consumption), macroeconomic forces (the real exchange rate and interest rate), and a dummy variable for the financial crisis of 2008–2009. We employ a flexible lag‐length method and find that homicides and thefts have negative and statistically significant effects on FDI, while other crimes have no effects. Subsample work suggests higher negative effects in the most violent states. (JEL F15, F21, F23, F36)     

FOREIGN TAKEOVERS AND NEW INVESTMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES

This study is unique in several respects. First, it reviews the characteristics of the top 10 industries targeted for foreign direct investment (FDI) activity in the United States between 1979 and 1987. It analyzes both overall FDI activity and new plant and expansion FDI activity. The study summarizes and tests alternative hypotheses regarding the determinants of FDI in the United States by all countries, by the United Kingdom, by the European Community, by Japan, and by Canada.
Large and growing product markets in an expanding economy have attracted FDI in the United States. Exchange rate movements have prompted opportunistic decisions to invest in U.S. production facilities. Investors' superior management skills appear to have prompted takeovers, while efforts to realize technological advantages of new physical capital and of relatively large operating plants have fostered plant and expansion investments.
Evidence exists that a desire to circumvent current—but not potential—trade restrictions has motivated foreign direct investment. FDI activities are not associated with concentrated or heavily unionized industries. Highly protected industries have attracted heavier equity FDI by Japan and heavier new plant FDI by all sources and Canada. No evidence exists that FDI in the United States by Japan or anyone else is targeted to undercut union-dominated firms or to arrest the spread of protectionist trade policies.     

Financial Openness and the Dutch Disease

This paper studies the relationship between the degree of financial openness and Dutch disease effects of capital inflows in developing countries. The results reveal that an increase in financial openness leads to an appreciation of the real exchange rate. In particular, the study shows that an increase in inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) results in an appreciation of the real exchange rate in more financially open countries only. The results also suggest that there is a trade‐off between the resource movement effect and the spending effect in more financially open economies following an increase in FDI inflows, such that the more the tradable sector expands relative to the nontradable sector, the greater is the real exchange rate appreciation.     

FOREIGN TAKEOVERS AND NEW INVESTMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES

This study is unique in several respects. First, it reviews the characteristics of the top 10 industries targeted for foreign direct investment (FDI) activity in the United States between 1979 and 1987. It analyzes both overall FDI activity and new plant and expansion FDI activity. The study summarizes and tests alternative hypotheses regarding the determinants of FDI in the United States by all countries, by the United Kingdom, by the European Community, by Japan, and by Canada.
Large and growing product markets in an expanding economy have attracted FDI in the United States. Exchange rate movements have prompted opportunistic decisions to invest in U.S. production facilities. Investors' superior management skills appear to have prompted takeovers, while efforts to realize technological advantages of new physical capital and of relatively large operating plants have fostered plant and expansion investments.
Evidence exists that a desire to circumvent current—but not potential—trade restrictions has motivated foreign direct investment. FDI activities are not associated with concentrated or heavily unionized industries. Highly protected industries have attracted heavier equity FDI by Japan and heavier new plant FDI by all sources and Canada. No evidence exists that FDI in the United States by Japan or anyone else is targeted to undercut union-dominated firms or to arrest the spread of protectionist trade policies.     

(NON‐)RESILIENCY OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE UNITED STATES DURING THE 2007–2009 FINANCIAL CRISIS

We study the contraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the United States during the recent financial crisis and show their unusual non‐resiliency, which depends in part on the global nature of the economic recession, but also on the increases in the cost of financing FDI in the economies in which the flows originate. To formally study the effects of external financial conditions on FDI in the United States, we exploit the three dimensions of a panel of US inward FDI flows organized by recipient US industries, source countries and years for the recorded flows. Changes in the cost of finance in the source countries have little or no effect on total inward flows (the sum of equity, debt and reinvested earnings) over the 2006–2010 period. However, US industries characterized by more financial vulnerability experience statistically significant variations in the debt and equity components of inward FDI flows in response to the changes in the cost of capital that occurred in the source countries during the crisis.     

THE POLITICS OF FDI EXPROPRIATION

I examine the role of political instability and fractionalization as potential explanations for the lack of capital flows from rich countries to poor countries (i.e., the Lucas Paradox). Using panel data from 1984 to 2014, I document that (i) developed countries exhibit larger inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), (ii) countries subject to high investment risk (IR) receive low FDI inflows, and (iii) IR is higher in fractionalized and politically unstable economies. These findings suggest a negative relationship between political instability and FDI through the IR channel. I inspect the theoretical mechanism using a dynamic political economy model of redistribution, wherein policymakers can expropriate resources from foreign investors. The proceeds are used to finance group‐specific transfers to domestic workers but hinder economic growth by discouraging FDI. I show that the political equilibrium exhibits overexpropriation and underinvestment.     

Declining US output volatility and its effect on labour flow volatility: an MGARCH analysis

This article examines the impact of the level and volatility of the real exchange rate on UK foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from the seven major countries of origin of the investment over the period 1975–2001. We use both fixed effects and dynamic generalized methods of moments (GMM) panel estimation techniques, and manufacturing data disaggregated by high and low R&D content of the sector of destination. Our results provide strong evidence that exchange rate volatility has a negative impact on FDI flows into the UK, irrespective of the sector of destination of the investment. On the other hand, the level of the real exchange rate is found to have a statistically insignificant effect on FDI after controlling for endogeneity of the regressors.     

Is inflation targeting or the fixed exchange rate more effective for attracting FDI into developing countries?

This article investigates which monetary policy regime – inflation targeting or the fixed exchange rate – is more effective for attracting FDI inflows into developing countries. Using propensity score matching and the difference-in-differences estimator, we find no evidence that adopting an inflation targeting regime would be more effective than adopting a fixed exchange rate, and vice versa, in encouraging FDI inflows.     

Assessing the Impacts of Capital Inflows on Domestic Economy across the Sub-Saharan Africa Countries

Using GMM models, this paper analyzes the impacts of capital inflows on domestic investment in 44 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 2003–2012. It is found that foreign direct investment across the SSA remains to be the largest percentage share, accounting for 35% of the total capital inflows. FDI inflows have significant positive impacts on domestic investment across the SSA in both short term and long term. Other key macroeconomic factors such as age dependency ratio, domestic economic growth, terms of trade, real effective exchange rate and trade openness also play vital roles in determining domestic investment.     

LONG‐RUN DETERMINANTS OF JAPANESE EXPORTS TO CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES: A SECTORAL ANALYSIS

During the period 1971–2007, Japanese sectoral exports to China and the United States depended on real exchange rate fluctuations and external demand (GDP of the country of destination). This result holds for both geographical destinations and for all six sectors under investigation in this study: foods, textiles, metal products, chemicals, non‐metal products, and machinery and equipment. For both China and the United States and for almost all sectors, the real exchange rate fluctuations and GDP have had the expected effects. Real appreciation of the yen and greater uncertainty derived from increased exchange rate volatility have reduced Japanese exports.     

Merger and acquisition FDI,relative wealth and relative access to bank credit: Evidence from a bivariate zero-inflated count model

We use a bivariate zero-inflated negative binomial model to examine Japanese merger and acquisition (M&A) FDI jointly with other types of Japanese FDI (or non-M&A FDI) into the United States. We find that for firms likely to engage in FDI, their rates of FDI are affected by the financial health of their main banks. However, only the rate of M&A FDI is affected by relative wealth. The rate of non-M&A FDI is affected by profitability and firm size. Our findings show the importance of distinguishing M&A FDI from non-M&A FDI and of considering the two types of FDI jointly.     

DOES APPRECIATION OF THE RENMINBI DECREASE IMPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES FROM CHINA?

In 2005, China abated its fixed exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and began to appreciate the Renminbi (RMB). In this paper, I explore the effect of the appreciation of the RMB on imports to the United States from China by augmenting the gravity model with the exchange rate. Using an industrial panel data set during the period 2002–2008 and controlling for the endogeneity of the bilateral exchange rate, this extensive empirical analysis suggests that the appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar significantly reduced imports to the United States from China. This finding is robust to a variety of econometric methods and to coverage in different periods. (JEL F1, F2)     

THE EFFECT OF FDI ON LOCAL EDUCATION EXPENDITURES: EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES

The intense competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) by state and local governments within the United States has raised concerns among some that this leads to the underprovision of public services and possibly welfare losses for local communities. Economic analysis of this hypothesis yields mixed results. This paper investigates the impact of FDI on local education expenditures both theoretically and empirically. The theoretical model shows an ambiguous impact of FDI on local expenditures for education. Empirically using US state‐level data from 1991 to 2000 and the system‐GMM estimator that controls for fixed effects, times series issues and endogeneity, I find evidence that FDI is positively correlated with increased expenditures on education.     

汇率水平与波动程度对外国直接投资的影响研究

本文首先采用外销比例指标,构建理论模型以研究汇率变动对不同类型FDI的影响,然后使用跨国数据进行实证检验,最后对人民币汇率的波动效应进行经验分析。研究表明,当东道国货币升值时,处于技术优势的跨国公司增加对外直接投资;双边实际汇率的波动程度对FDI的影响很弱,这是由于跨国公司采取了有效的汇率风险管理;由于汇率风险是影响外资企业出口的关键因素,实际有效汇率的波动程度对出口导向型FDI的影响较大;人民币升值和扩大人民币汇率的波动区间对市场导向型FDI的影响较弱,却能够显著促进出口导向型FDI。     

TELECOMMUNICATIONS, FACTOR SUBSTITUTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

De La Grandville (1989) suggests that large elasticities of substitution between factor inputs and a change in relative prices might (i) explain historical economic growth in developing countries and (ii) account for the varying growth among sectors within economies undergoing technological change. Yuhn (1991) supports de La Grandvilles first hypothesis in his finding that Korea's economic growth relative to the United States, over a given interval, could be explained by the higher elasticities of substitution between labor and capital in Korea relative to those of the United States. This paper explores de La Grandville's second hypothesis with respect to telecommunications.     

The effects of economic freedom on FDI inflows: an empirical analysis

There is a regular emphasis on the significant role of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in promoting economic growth. This favourable relationship has induced many governments to adopt policies intended to increase FDI inflows and, thereby, to create conducive business and economic conditions for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). This paper examines the effects of Economic Freedom (EF) and its sub-components reflecting the Quality of Institutions (QIs) on FDI inflows, using indices derived from the Fraser Institute and from the Heritage Foundation. The empirical analysis is carried out for a panel dataset using different econometric methodologies and empirical specifications. The results underline positive effects of EF on FDI inflows. They reveal that EF sub-components have varying impacts on FDI inflows, where rule of law, market openness, and less-restrictive regulatory environment stand out as the major FDI-promoting institutional factors. Also, there is an empirical evidence that the effects of EF sub-components on FDI inflows exhibit variations through the economic characteristics of the host countries and across geo-economic regions. The results suggest that governments should pursue EF-improving policies, which should be tailored according to the economic and geo-economic characteristics of the host countries, to increase FDI inflows.     

Does immigration crowd out foreign direct investment inflows? Tradeoff between contemporaneous FDI-immigration substitution and ethnic network externalities

This study examines the dynamic interactions between immigration and inward foreign direct investment (FDI) using bilateral data on these indicators between Japan and each of the 29 countries/economies of origin for both FDI and immigrants into Japan during 1996–2011. Although literature shows a positive FDI–migration relationship, I distinguish between short- and long-term effects of immigration, and show a contemporaneous negative relationship between FDI and immigration. The results show that immigration flows discourage FDI inflows (FDI–migration substitution), although larger immigration stocks induce FDI inflows (ethnic network externalities). Therefore, total effects need to be evaluated considering a tradeoff between contemporaneous substitution and the longer-term complementarity from network effects. While inward FDI promotion and immigration enhancement are often suggested as solutions to resolving shortages in domestic savings and labor, our results have implications for addressing the increasingly daunting policy issue of population aging.     

EXTERNAL MACROECONOMIC IMBALANCES AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT INFLOWS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

We employ relative size of International Monetary Fund (IMF) credit as a proxy for interdependent macro variables that are associated with external macroeconomic imbalances or balance of payment (BOP) crisis to investigate how they impact foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. Relative size of IMF credit as a share of gross domestic product sends two mixed signals to multinational enterprises (MNEs). First, it is a signal that a country is facing an actual or potential BOP crisis. Second, countries that seek IMF credit typically agree to implement a set of “IMF conditionality” before financial credit is disbursed. This may signal to MNEs that policy reforms that must accompany IMF financial credit may result in ex ante positive economic outlook and stability. We find that relative size of IMF credit is negatively (positively) correlated with FDI inflows to developing countries below (above) a threshold value of economic freedom. The main implication of these findings is that MNEs may view developing countries with below average index of economic freedom as lacking institutional capabilities to implement recommended IMF policy reforms when faced with an actual or potential BOP crisis. Our results are robust across alternative model specifications and consistent with the theory of catalytic finance. (JEL F21, F23, F33)     

THE IMPACT OF TRADE AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT POLICIES ON TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND SOURCING OF CHINESE FIRMS

How do trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) policies impact the decisions of firms in technology adoption (process vs. product innovations) and sourcing (internal vs. external and foreign vs. domestic)? We use a sample of Chinese firms to address this question. China's trade and FDI policies lead to different forms of internationalization: ordinary exports, processing exports, majority FDI, and minority FDI. We find that both exporting and FDI stimulate process innovation; ordinary exports, processing exports, and FDI have strong, weak, and no effects on stimulating product innovation, respectively. Exporting firms source technologies both internally through R&D and externally from foreign and domestic sources. FDI firms have a lower tendency of internal technology development and domestic technology sourcing, but a much higher tendency of foreign technology sourcing than exporting firms. (JEL F13, F23, O32)