Localization of foreign multinational companies in Korea

In response to the 1997 Asian financial crisis that devastated the Korean economy, the government performed promotional efforts, comprehensive structural reform, and implemented policies to create a favorable environment for foreign direct investment (FDI). While the Korean government announced deregulation plans to support foreign companies, the public also became more aware of the need for foreign capital to overcome the crisis and revive the economy. The change of atmosphere and the perception on the need to induce the inflow of foreign capital provided the basis for this study. In addition, the crucial role of foreign multinational companies and their efforts to achieve market recognition in a more comprehensive way have provoked this study on the localization of foreign multinational companies in Korea. Investment purposes, entry methods, and the degree of competition by multinational companies in Korea were the variables that lead these companies to respond to localization.     

Export Spillovers to Chinese Firms: Evidence from Provincial Data

Multinational firms are important conduits of managerial skills, foreign market linkages, and technology. Foreign export spillovers associated with multinational firms have the potential to reduce entry costs for local exporting firms. This paper examines whether exports by multinational firms increase the probability of exporting by domestic Chinese firms. The findings from the Probit estimation highlight the varying relationships between multinational exports and local foreign entry based on the type of ownership. The results from separating foreign-invested enterprises into overseas Chinese companies and OECD-based multinational firms suggest that the export activity of the former does not increase the probability of exporting by local firms, whereas the latter positively influence the export decision of local firms, particularly under processing trade.     

The impact of exchange rate risk on the foreign direct investment of U.S. multinational manufacturing companies

This paper extends the examination of the effects of exchange rate risk on the foreign direct investment decision of U.S. multinationals in manufacturing. It does so by explicitly developing a model which incorporates exchange rate risk into the objective function of the firm and tests the model on cross-sectional data over the years 1974 to 1977 for investment in both developed and less developed countries. These are the only years for which data on all crucial variables are available. In all cases the risk aversity hypothesis was substantiated and the same model was appropriate for both developed and less developed countries.     

The determinants of geographic configuration of value chain activities: Foreign multinational enterprises in Japanese manufacturing

This paper attempts to identify the determinants of the multinational enterprises decision to locate value chain activities, such as R&D, procurement, production, and distribution, among the source and the host countries. Using data of foreign firms in Japanese manufacturing, the statistical analysis found that the determinants of direct investment in one business activity are not necessarily the same as the determinants for another activity, while they are linked each other through complex mechanisms. For example, foreign subsidiaries in R&D intensive industries in Japan are more likely to import intermediate goods, use contractors for production, and distribute through fragmented distribution system. It appears that the traditional transaction-cost model is less consistent with the pattern of investments in R&D, productions, and distribution at least for the sample used in this paper.I would like to thank Werner Pascha and the editors, Paul Welfens and David Audretsch, for thoughtful comments and suggestions.     

发展中国家之间国际贸易与国际直接投资关系研究——以中国与东盟为例

本文以发展中国家之间的国际贸易与国际直接投资为研究对象,通过对国际贸易与国际直接投资之间关系的综述,结合发展中国家贸易投资的发展过程和趋势,研究发展中国家间国际贸易与国际直接投资的关系,论证了普遍适用的国际贸易与国际直接投资关系的相关理论的确存在于发展中国家之间,并且发现比较优势作为其主要诱发因素,发生于发展中国家的发展前期。最后,选取中国与东盟之间的贸易与投资数据进行实证考察,得出相应的结论。     

外商直接投资与区域市场一体化——基于长三角的经验研究

外商直接投资改变了政府和企业的行为模式,从而对市场一体化进程产生深刻的影响。市场替代假说和全球价值链假说对两者之间的关系给出了截然不同的预测。文章在构建长三角地区市场一体化指数的基础上,研究外商直接投资与区域市场一体化之间的关系。研究结果表明,长三角地区的市场一体化水平在不断提高;外商直接投资有助于拓展区域市场一体化进程。最后,文章基于地方政府竞争的角度对实证结论进行解释。     

Are Investment Promotion Agencies Effective in Promoting Outward Foreign Direct Investment? The Cases of Japan and Korea

In this paper we examine the role of investment promotion agencies (IPA) in promoting outward foreign direct investment (FDI) from Japan and Korea. Looking at two home countries enables us to control for both country‐pair time‐invariant characteristics and host‐country time‐varying characteristics. Our empirical results suggest that home‐country IPA tend to be more effective in promoting outward FDI in politically risky host countries. However, this finding depends on whether the home‐country firm is listed or unlisted. More specifically, we find that the positive effect of home‐country IPA on outward FDI in politically risky countries is limited to unlisted home‐country firms, which tend to be less productive.     

How Do Firms in the Private Sector Perceive Constraints to Doing Business in China?

This paper studies perceptions of business constraints in China using rich firm-level data from the 2005 and 2012 World Bank Enterprise Surveys conducted jointly by the China National Bureau of Statics and the World Bank. In addition, we focus on the variations of perceptions across foreign and indigenous Chinese firms. Our results show that there exist significant differences in perceptions between foreign and domestic firms in China in the 2005 survey, but such differences are no long present in the 2012 survey. Our analysis also identifies several elements perceived as more severe constraints by both domestic and foreign firms.     

Exports versus FDI: An Empirical Test

In a recent paper Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple argue firm heterogeneity leads to self-selection in the structure of international commerce. Only the most productive firms find it profitable to meet the higher costs associated with FDI; the next set of firms finds it profitable to serve foreign markets through exporting; while the least productive firms serve only the domestic market. The paper tests this assumption using the concept of stochastic dominance. Robust support is found for the model, the productivity distribution of multinational firms is found to dominate that of export firms, which in turn dominates that of non-exporters. JEL no. D24, F14, F23     

Technology Transfer from Acquisition FDI and the Absorptive Capacity of Domestic Firms: An Empirical Investigation

This paper seeks to establish the role of absorptive capacity in technology transfer from acquisition FDI in U.K. manufacturing. It finds that the rate of productivity change following a foreign take-over is higher the higher the pre-acquisition productivity level of the acquired firm, indicating the importance of absorptive capacity. However, beyond some critical level of initial productivity, the rate of technology transfer due to foreign acquisition starts to decline. It seems that U.K. acquisition targets that had been operating nearer the domestic technology frontier have less to gain from their association with foreign multinationals.     

Investment challenges in the hotel industry in Kigali,Rwanda: Hotel managers' perspectives

Developing countries today compete to attract foreign direct investment to their local hotel industry. Many have therefore already changed their policies on foreign investment in order to compete effectively. Recovering from the 1990s genocide, the Rwandan Government has created an environment conducive to investment, to attract both local and foreign investment finance. This paper discusses the tourism investment policy context in Rwanda. It describes a survey of Kigali hotel managers' perceptions and opinions on challenges for investment in the country's hotel industry. The survey found that the perceived weaknesses of investing in the hotel sector are closely related to problems faced by the Rwandan tourism sector in general, such as the perception that Rwanda is not a safe tourism destination, the lack of skilled labour in tourism services, the lack of finances in the form of loans to potential investors and the lack of adequate tourism infrastructure.     

Increasing employability in the emerging tourism sector in Mozambique: Results of a qualitative study

Mozambique’s tourism sector could play a key role in the country’s socio-economic development, especially in the region of Cabo Delgado where the demand for tourist services is expected to increase. Nonetheless, several constraints (e.g. the lack of adequate training) are hindering the capacity of local people to take full advantage of this opportunity. Qualitative research has been performed in order to align vocational training programmes with the needs of the emerging tourism sector. Local and foreign key informants were interviewed in order to gain a better understanding of training needs and to gain insights into developing training programmes that can enhance local people’s employability. The main findings highlight the lack of symbolisation of tourism and its correlates from local communities. Therefore, rather than just delivering technical skills, training programmes should also promote a ‘culture of tourism’ and a more favourable attitude towards ‘working in the tourism sector’.     

Foreign Direct Investment and Trade: A Causality Analysis

In this article, we analyze the relationship between outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports, using Spanish quarterly data for the period 1977–1998, by means of Granger causality tests in a cointegration framework. Our results point to the existence of a relationship of complementarity between both variables, with Granger causality running in the short run from outward FDI to exports, and bilateral Granger causality in the long run.     

Foreign Direct Investment and Services Trade: Evidence from Malaysia and Singapore

Abstract

Services trade is an important source of growth in Malaysia and Singapore. Both economies are export-oriented and actively court foreign direct investment (FDI) to advance their economic objectives of industrialization and economic development. This paper examines the causal linkages between inward FDI and the country's engagement in services trade in bi-variate and tri-variate VAR frameworks. The empirical findings for Singapore show evidence of bi-directional causality between inward FDI and the total trade volume in services (i.e. the absolute sum of payments and receipts) as well as between FDI and services imports (in the tri-variate specification). This may reflect her relative open foreign investment policy and free trade regime in services. For Malaysia, the evidence of causality is weaker and uni-directional, from inward FDI to services imports. These findings are consistent with the different stages of economic development and openness attained by the two sample countries, and they provide useful background for trade and foreign investment policies and development strategies.     

外国直接投资、外国证券投资与经济增长:以中国为

文章以中国1982-2005年的统计数据为例,通过建立格兰杰因果关系检验模型以及Johansen协整关系检验模型,对中国FDI、FPI和经济增长之间的短期关系和长期关系分别进行了实证研究,并在此基础上得出相关结论和建议.     

粤港澳湾区市场一体化对该地区FDI的影响——基于固定效应及异质性检验的分析

运用粤港澳湾区2001—2018年的商品市场一体化指数,通过固定效应模型实证研究市场一体化对粤港澳湾区外商直接投资(FDI)的影响并进行异质性检验.结果显示:粤港澳湾区的市场一体化指数与FDI负相关,市场一体化指数越高,FDI反而减少;同时,滞后的市场一体化指数与FDI具有显著的负相关关系,而不同地区的市场一体化程度对外商投资有不同的影响.在此基础上,政府应当积极制定引导政策,大力推进高素质人才建设,并坚持对外开放,同时针对地区差异因势利导,发挥优势促进经济内循环.     

Technological Capability and FDI in Asia: Firm‐level Relationships among Japanese Manufacturers*

The present paper reexamines the relationship between technological capabilities and FDI decisions at the firm level. The data cover 118 300 Japanese firms in all manufacturing industries. The R&D of Japanese firms has a noticeably weaker relationship with FDI in Asia than with FDI in industrial countries. This finding is confirmed to be robust even when alternative estimation techniques are used and when R&D expenditure data are replaced by patent data. The estimation results also reveal non‐negligible fixed entry costs for FDI, a finding consistent with the observation that only approximately 2 percent of the firms invest abroad.     

Exchange rates and ownership structure of Japanese multinational firms

This paper investigates the determinants of Japanese multinationals’ ownership structures. Unlike most previous studies that neglect the impact of financial constraints on ownership, we add the exchange rate as a measure of wealth and test whether exchange rates affect the ownership share of foreign direct investment projects. After controlling for other variables that affect ownership, we find that exchange rates have a significant effect on the likelihood of wholly owned subsidiaries. We also discuss several other explanations for the link between exchange rates and foreign direct investment and provide evidence that the link stems from capital-market imperfections.