The impact of foreign direct investment in China on employment adjustments in Taiwan: Evidence from matched employer–employee data

Using a unique matched employer–employee dataset on Taiwanese manufacturing, we examine the impact of foreign direct investment in China on domestic employment adjustments controlling for firm and worker heterogeneity as well as for potential endogeneity of firms’ expansion in China. Our findings suggest that workers employed at firms with higher levels of investment in China are more likely to leave the firm, compared with workers at firms with zero or lower levels of investment in China. We provide evidence that foreign expansion in China decreases worker employment security at parent companies, particularly for low-skilled workers. Employment adjustments through employer-to-employer transitions are found to be highly associated with wage losses, with the strongest wage effects for low-skilled workers who shift employment between industries. Moreover, we find no evidence that FDI in China contributes to skill upgrading at parent companies.     

Productivity spillovers from foreign multinationals and trade protection: firm‐level analysis of Vietnamese manufacturing

This paper examines how the presence of foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) affects productivity in domestic private firms in Vietnamese manufacturing in 2005–10. The paper also examines how import protection has affected these productivity spillovers and how spillovers from wholly foreign MNEs and joint ventures differ. The most consistent result suggests wholly foreign MNEs impart negative spillovers while joint ventures tend to generate positive spillovers. Theory and random effects estimates also indicate that import protection reduces local firm productivity and weakens the effect of spillovers from all MNEs; but this result is not obtained when a fixed effects estimator is used. Results are similar in samples of labour‐intensive industries, which include close to three fourths of all sample firms, but differ markedly for more capital‐intensive groups.     

Global knowledge flow and Japanese multinational firms’ offshore R&D allocation and innovation

This paper examines whether allocating more research and development (R&D) activities to a country-industry pair with a higher intensity of knowledge flows improves the innovation performance of multinational enterprises (MNEs). We use firm-patent-matched data for Japanese manufacturing MNEs, including data on MNEs’ offshore R&D expenditure and information on patents filed by both parent firms and overseas affiliates. Moreover, as a proxy for the intensity of knowledge flows, we use the eigenvector centrality of each country-industry pair in the global knowledge flow network, utilizing patent citation information.We find that the quality-adjusted number of patent applications tends to be higher for MNEs that allocate more R&D activities to country-industry pairs that are more central in the network of global knowledge flows. However, we did not find any significant relationship between the country and industry distribution of offshore R&D and the number of patent applications.     

Knowledge spillovers from foreign direct investment in R&D: Evidence from Japanese firm-level data

This study uses firm-level panel data from the Japanese manufacturing industries and examines whether foreign direct investment generates intra-industry knowledge spillovers to domestic firms. The analysis found positive effects of R&D stocks of foreign firms on the productivity of domestic firms, while effects of capital stocks of foreign firms were absent, suggesting that knowledge of foreign firms spills over through their R&D activities, but not through their production activities. In addition, we found that the extent of spillovers from R&D stock of foreign firms is substantially larger than spillovers from R&D stock of domestic firms.     

Global value chains and servicification of manufacturing: Evidence from firm-level data

Recent literature on global value chains (GVCs) has mainly focused on manufacturing firms’ global sourcing and investment strategies. Our question here is that, if the manufacturing firms established foreign manufacturing plants and engaged in sourcing inputs and exporting outputs, have they changed their domestic employment composition toward service workers? This is what we call servicification of manufacturing firms in this paper. To answer this question, using Korean firm-establishments matched data, we examine changes in the shares of service employment in manufacturing firms from 2008 to 2013, when those firms are participating in both import-and-export and foreign direct investment (i.e., GVC firms). We find that the two-way trading firms that own manufacturing plants in foreign countries—and particularly in nearby foreign countries—have changed their domestic employment structures to increase the number of service workers they employ. Moreover, the relatively greater increase in the share of R&D workers than of wholesale-and-retail workers serves as further evidence of the servicification of domestic manufacturing. Overall, our findings suggest that Korean firms who engage in GVCs through both trade and foreign direct investment have reorganized domestic labor structure to be able to provide high value-added headquarter services for their manufacturing plants that are closely located in foreign countries.     

Demonstration or congestion? Export spillovers in Sweden

A key feature of the Swedish economy over the last two decades has been the rapid internationalisation of its economy, both through FDI and exports. In this paper we consider their inter-relationship, examining whether there have been spillovers from foreign firms to the export performance of domestic firms. We also contribute to the empirical modelling of export spillovers. We do this by exploiting information on whether foreign MNE sales are intra-firm or inter-firm, and by allowing for heterogeneity in the characteristics of the sender and receiver of spillovers. Our results indicate that foreign MNEs had positive effects on Swedish exports.     

Indonesia's missing multinationals: business groups and outward direct investment

Some countries produce more multinational enterprises (MNEs) than others. India and China, in particular, have produced a number of dynamic MNEs whose success abroad generates important economic benefits for the home economy. Motivated by this observation, we describe the internationalisation record of Indonesia's major business groups. Using an archival analysis method, we find that, with a few exceptions, Indonesia's largest business groupings focus predominantly upon the domestic market. We advance two explanations for this investment pattern. The first suggests that the apparent absence of Indonesian MNEs is an accounting error, because firms’ outward investment is under-reported in official statistics. The second suggests that Indonesian outward foreign direct investment is impeded by a combination of institutional and firm-level factors that arrest the internationalisation of all but the largest firms. We discuss the policy implications of these findings and reflect on their theoretical implications.     

Do Chinese domestic firms benefit from FDI inflow?: Evidence of horizontal and vertical spillovers

Using a large panel dataset covering all manufacturing firms (above a minimum scale) in China from 1998 to 2005, this paper examines whether there exist productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) to domestic firms. In estimating productivity, we control for a possible simultaneity bias by using semi-parametric estimation techniques. We find that Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan (HMT) invested firms generate negative horizontal spillovers, while Non-HMT foreign invested firms (mostly from OECD countries) tend to bring positive horizontal spillovers in China. These two opposing horizontal effects seem to cancel out at the aggregate level. We also find strong and robust vertical spillover effects on both state-owned firms and non-state firms. However, vertical spillover effects from export-oriented FDI are weaker than those from domestic-market-oriented FDI.     

Import competition from and offshoring to low-income countries: Implications for employment and wages at U.S. domestic manufacturers

Using confidential linked firm-level trade transactions and census data between 1997 and 2012, we provide new evidence on how American firms without foreign affiliates adjust employment and wages as they adapt to import competition from low-income countries. We provide stylized facts on the input sourcing strategies of these domestic firms, contrasting them with multinationals operating in the same industry. We then investigate how changes in firm input purchases from low-income countries as well as domestic market import penetration from these sources are correlated with changes in employment and wages at surviving domestic firms. Greater offshoring by domestic firms from low-income countries correlates with larger declines in manufacturing employment and in the average production workers’ wage. Given the negative association, however, the estimated magnitudes are small, even for a narrow measure of offshoring that includes only intermediate goods. Import penetration of U.S. markets from these sources is associated with relatively larger changes in employment for arm’s length importing firms, but has no significant correlation with employment changes at firms that do not trade. Given differences in the degree of both offshoring and import penetration, we find substantial variation across industries in the magnitude of changes associated with low-income country imports.     

外资撤离速度与制造业转型升级——基于CGE对IT制造业的仿真分解分析

近年来，IT制造业等外资依赖性较强的产业面临的外资撤离风险不断升高，如何衡量和评估不同撤离速度下内资企业的发展稳定性和实现转型升级的支撑性?文章将CGE模型数值模拟与DEA分解分析相结合，考察不同外资撤离速度场景对IT制造业内资企业的影响，以及机制和路径。结果表明：1、当外资流入为0或者其存量以5%的速度小幅持续撤离时，内资企业受影响较小。较高的资本深化率、技术效率和技术进步使得其能够较快填补市场空白，具备企稳回升的能力；2、当外资存量以25%的较高速度撤离时，内资企业由于技术进步受到抑制，劳动生产率处于不可扭转的持续下滑趋势；3、外资企业在可见预期内仍然将是内资企业的主要技术进步来源，外资撤离会通过抑制内资企业技术进步，从而约束资本深化和技术效率的路径中对内资企业的稳定发展和转型升级产生负面影响。基于上述研究，文章提出相关政策启示和建议。     

FDI知识溢出、自主R&D投入与内资高技术企业创新能力——基于中国高技术产业分行业动态面板数据模型的检验

基于知识生产函数,利用 1995～2008 年中国高技术产业 17 个细分行业的面板数据,本文研究了 FDI 知识溢出和自主 R&D 投入对内资企业创新能力的影响.研究表明,内资企业自主 R&D 投入是形成其创新能力的最主要因素;外资企业 R&D 活动对内资企业产生了一定的知识溢出效应,在一定程度上推动了内资企业创新能...     

Technology spillovers from Chinese outward direct investment: The case of Ethiopia

The present study uses firm survey data of 1033 manufacturing firms operating in Ethiopia in 2011 to examine the impact of Chinese outbound direct investment on the productivity of domestic firms. Particularly, we attempt to answer two questions. Firstly, are Chinese-owned (henceforth foreign) firms more productive than local ones? Secondly, does the presence of foreign firms generate technology spillovers on domestic firms operating in the same industry? Our empirical results show that foreign firms are more productive and that their presence has different spillover effects on the productivity of domestic firms. In particular, we find that domestic firms with higher absorptive capacity experience positive spillovers, while those with low absorptive capacity witness negative spillover. We also find that small firms and non-exporting firms benefit more from spillovers than do other types of domestic firms. In this study, instrumental variables are used to address the potential endogeneity between foreign firm presence and domestic firm productivity.     

Are FDI spillovers regional? Firm-level evidence from China

This paper examines whether spillovers from FDI occur at the national or regional level, using firm-level census data for the Chinese manufacturing industry between 2000 and 2003. We find that FDI provides significant positive spillovers for the productivity of firms in the same industry, but these spillovers are likely to be regional; that is, domestic firms benefit more from the presence of foreign firms in the same sector within the same region. The backward and forward linkage effects of FDI are negative with significant regional disparity. The geographic distribution of FDI also influences spillovers, with an increase in FDI inflow to the top FDI recipient provinces increasing the forward linkage spillovers. Our empirical results also suggest that domestic firms differ significantly in the extent to which they benefit from FDI, though domestic firms with high absorptive capacity are more likely to benefit from FDI.     

Outward Foreign Direct Investment and Domestic Performance: the Italian Manufacturing and Services Sectors

How does outward foreign direct investment (FDI) affect employment and productivity growth in the home country? Does the impact of outward investment differ among manufacturing and service sectors? In this paper we analyze the effects of investing abroad using firm-level data for Italy for the period 2003–2006. We adopt matching techniques in combination with a difference-in-difference estimator in order to investigate the causal effect of becoming multinational on domestic employment and productivity. Preliminary results suggest that Italian outward FDI has limited effects on domestic employment and performance of internationalizing firms on average. However, results significantly differ depending on the sector (manufacturing versus services) where the MNEs are operating. In particular, we find that while in the manufacturing sector, outward FDI tends to strengthen both productivity and, to less extent, employment. In the service sector, we find a negative effect on employment (two years after the investment).     

FDI如何影响本地企业出口——来自中国制造业的发现

文章从理论上分析了外资进入影响本地企业出口行为的机制，并在构造外资溢出三类指标的基础上，运用1998-2007年中国制造业企业数据实证检验了外资溢出对本地企业出口参与决策和出口规模的影响。研究表明：（1）外资企业通过行业内水平溢出和行业间前向关联溢出显著促进了本地企业的出口参与决策，并提高了本地企业的出口规模；（2）外资行业间后向关联溢出对本地企业出口参与决策的影响不明显，但扩大了已出口企业的出口规模，控制内生性后结论仍成立；（3）外资进入对本地企业出口行为的影响因外资来源地和本地企业所有制性质的不同而存在显著的差异性。     

Firms’ demand for work hours: Evidence from matched firm-worker data in Japan

Using information on Japanese males’ work hours and the matched firms’ characteristics, this paper investigates whether the number of hours worked is determined by demand-side factors and tries to offer a possible explanation of why Japanese males tend to work longer on average, than their counterparts in other countries. Based on an empirical framework in which each firm sets a minimum boundary of work hours and where workers hired by the firm are required to put in at least the minimum hours, we found that the minimum requirement depends on each firm’s fixed costs of labor. Specifically, firms that tend to hoard labor during recessions, presumably because of higher fixed costs, require incumbent workers to work longer hours during normal times. Since Japanese firms have long been considered as incurring high fixed costs to train workers, we interpret the long work hour requirement as a rational strategy for Japanese firms in protecting high-skill-accumulated workers from dismissal. In other words, the long work hours of Japanese males reflect firms’ long-term employment practices, a typical feature of the Japanese labor market.     

Expansion abroad and jobs at home: Evidence from Japanese multinational enterprises

This paper examines the so-called ‘exporting job’ hypothesis – that expansion of overseas operations of manufacturing multinational enterprises (MNEs) reduces home employment – using a newly constructed matched parent-affiliate panel dataset of Japanese MNEs over the period 1991–2002. The results do not support the widely held view that overseas operations of MNEs lower home employment. On the contrary, there is some evidence that expansion of overseas operations may have helped to maintain the level of home employment.     

Firm Productivity and Foreign Direct Investment into Non‐core Activities*

As foreign direct investment (FDI) often originates from multinational enterprises (MNEs) with non‐core activities and not single‐product firms, as MNE theory typically suggests, we hypothesize that such firms are more productive than MNEs without non‐core activities as well as non‐MNE firms. We test this hypothesis using Kolmogorov–Smirnov stochastic dominance Tests and Japanese firm‐level productivity and FDI data for the period 1985–2001. We find that both manufacturing and service multinational firms with non‐core foreign investments stochastically dominate firms without non‐core activities. We also find cost‐complementarities between certain core and non‐core FDI activities that span both manufacturing and service affiliates.     

Chinese MNEs and managerial knowledge transfer in Africa: the case of the construction sector in Ghana

This paper considers the case of managerial knowledge spillovers from Chinese FDI in Africa, in the context of the Ghanaian construction sector. Using empirical data from in-depth qualitative interviews, the paper first identifies key channels and determinants of managerial knowledge spillovers. Limited local employment at the managerial level in Chinese construction firms is the main impediment to managerial knowledge spillovers from these firms. Cultural and linguistic barriers can explain this situation. Localisation strategies, defined as the progressive replacement of Chinese managers by local ones, can help overcome these barriers and foster managerial knowledge spillovers.     

Heterogeneity of FDI Export Spillovers and Its Policy Implications: The Experience of China

This paper explores the magnitude and heterogeneity of foreign direct investment (FDI) export spillovers in China. Using a Heckman sample selection model estimated over a rich firm‐level dataset in China's manufacturing sector from 2000 to 2003, we find that FDI exerts significant impacts on the exporting behavior of domestic firms, and such impacts are heterogeneous in that some firms receive positive impacts while others receive negative impacts. The heterogeneity of FDI spillovers has significant policy implications as it indicates that government policies need to be more specific and targeted in order for the benefits of FDI to be reaped.