Technology transfers,foreign investment and productivity spillovers

This paper explores the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and the productivity of host country domestic firms. We rely on a specially designed survey of over 4000 manufacturing firms in Vietnam, and separate out productivity gains along the supply chain (obtained through direct transfers of knowledge/technology between linked firms) from productivity effects through indirect FDI spillovers. In addition to identifying indirect vertical productivity spillovers from FDI, our results show that there are productivity gains associated with direct linkages between foreign-owned and domestic firms along the supply chain not captured by commonly used measures of spillovers. This includes evidence of productivity gains through forward linkages for domestic firms which receive inputs from foreign-owned firms.     

外国直接投资对我国产业结构升级的影响--对外贸易视角的分析

改革开放以来,特别是20世纪90年代至今,外国直接投资对我国经济发展的促进作用在对外贸易活动中表现的尤为显著。本文选取对外贸易视角,考察和分析了外国直接投资对我国产业结构升级的影响和作用,并根据实证分析的结论提出了相应的政策建议。     

TPP对我国对外贸易和投资的影响及对策——基于异质性企业理论的视角

笔者通过扩展现有异质性企业贸易模型,结合相关自由贸易协定理论,探讨了TPP对中国和美国对外贸易和直接投资产生的影响以及现阶段中国应对TPP发展的政策组合等问题。研究结论表明,TPP将对中美两国产生截然不同的贸易和投资效应:现有TPP推动的贸易自由化将抑制中国的出口和外商直接投资,却能扩大美国的出口和外资流入;现阶段中国加入TPP的难度可能较大;扩大内需和推动中日韩自贸区的建立是目前中国应对TPP发展的可行政策组合。     

The impact of family-CEOs and their demographic characteristics on dividend payouts: Evidence from Latin America

We investigate the effect of family-CEOs and CEO demographic characteristics on firms’ dividend policy in Latin America. We show that family-CEO firms pay less amount of dividends and invest more in capital expenditures than nonfamily-CEO firms do. Direct family ownership (ownership concentration) negatively (positively) affects dividend payouts. Among the CEO demographic characteristics, CEO tenure has a consistent and significant negative effect on the dividend payout. Firms in a strong corporate governance environment pay more dividends and are less likely to appoint family members as CEOs, suggesting that strong corporate governance forces firms to pay more dividends and restrains firms from appointing CEOs based on family ties.     

Maximising international returns: Impact of IFRS on foreign direct investments

This study investigates whether the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by a country increases Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and impacts the profitability of investments conducted by Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs). The proposed regression models are tested on a data set containing 493 observations of Swedish companies’ FDIs in 73 countries made during 2007–2014. Empirical evidence is provided for a significant impact of IFRS adoption on FDIs and earnings generated by foreign investments, depending upon the extent of IFRS implementation and the level of convergence. This study also suggests that IFRS adoption is significant both for FDIs and reported profits obtained through FDIs for developed countries, contrasting with emerging markets. Finally, this is one of the first papers to empirically test and confirm that several significant underlying variables (including IFRS), which can explain both FDIs and profits reported by MNEs, are identical.     

The Role of Off‐Farm Labor Participation Decisions of Married Farm Couples on Farm Direct Marketing in Taiwan

Direct marketing from farm producers to consumers has been seen as a viable business option to increase farm income. This study investigates the factors that determine a farm's direct marketing decisions; special attention is paid to understanding the correlation between farm couples' off‐farm labor participation and the farm's adoption of direct marketing strategies. A nationally representative dataset of 3,670 married family farm couples in Taiwan is used as an illustration. A multiple choice treatment effect model is estimated to cope with endogeneity bias. The results indicate a significant association between farm couples' off‐farm labor decisions and the farm's adoption of direct marketing strategies. Moreover, gender difference is evident: farm husband's (wife's) off‐farm work is positively (negatively) associated with the farm's direct marketing decision.     

Managing socio-political risk at the subnational level: Lessons from MNE subsidiaries in Indonesia

Within emerging markets, institutional conditions vary significantly at both the country and subnational levels. Although the extant literature recognises the types of risk faced by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in emerging markets, it has hitherto paid scarce attention to explaining how MNEs manage such risk at the subnational level. Reporting on four case studies from Indonesia, we outline how MNEs ensure their success by maintaining active relationships with a variety of non-market actors—including opinion leaders, government officials, and communities at the subnational level. In our study, we developed a conceptual framework, showcasing how MNEs can manage socio-political risk within heterogeneous institutional settings.     

Digitalization,internationalization, and firm performance: A resource-orchestration perspective on new OLI advantages

Digital forces and digital global connection weaken traditional ownership, location and internalization (OLI) advantages and intensify new OLI advantages (open resources, linkages and integration). However, by building on the resource-orchestration theory, we raise the question of how digitalization (utilization and orchestration of digital resources) and internationalization (firm-level outward internationalization and country-level inward internationalization) affect firm performance. We introduce the degree of outward internationalization and home-country inward foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows as moderators in achieving firm performance as a result of digitalization. Using a panel dataset of 571 U.S. manufacturing firms, we find a curvilinear relationship between digitalization and performance. The top quartile of digitalization efforts is rewarded by significant profitability. Moreover, high levels of outward internationalization and high net-FDI inflows increase the performance gains attributable to high levels of digitalization. Overall, the resource-orchestration theory complements new OLI advantages in explaining firm performance in the digital world.     

汇率波动、生产网络与股市风险--基于中美贸易摩擦背景的分析北大核心

本文从生产网络视角出发,研究中美贸易摩擦期间汇率变动对中美两国股票市场的直接影响以及由行业间生产联系带来的网络影响。从静态一般均衡模型可推出具有空间自回归(SAR)模型形式的实证模型,其中以行业间投入产出关系作为空间权重矩阵。实证结果发现,中美双边汇率变动对两国股市的影响在贸易摩擦期间均比之前更为显著,人民币贬值导致中国股市收益率下降,其中约50%是由行业间生产联系带来的网络效应,而美元升值导致了美国股市收益率下降,其中约37%是网络效应。关税制裁波及的行业与未波及行业的股票收益率均受汇率变动影响,但后者受到的网络影响更大,且各行业受到的网络影响主要由其下游行业传递。