This paper examines the determinants of intra-firm trade in US imports using detailed country-product data. We create a new measure of product contractibility based on the degree of intermediation in international trade for the product. We find important roles for the interaction of country and product characteristics in determining intra-firm trade shares. Intra-firm trade is high for products...

It is often argued that multinationals are reluctant to transfer technology due to the fear of spillovers. We show that this need not be the case if host country policies like taxation are taken into account. Furthermore, we examine the incentives the multinational and the host country have to engage in an international joint venture. We show why a multinational may agree to enter a joint ventu...

We examine interaction between goods trade and market power in domestic trade and distribution sectors. Theory suggests a linkage between service-sector competition and goods trade, one supported by econometrics involving imports of 22 OECD countries vis-à-vis 69 exporters. This points to linkages between market access conditions for goods and the structure of the service sector. Competition in...

Given the increasing importance of financing in foreign currency denominated debt, researchers have shown the conditions under which raising capital denominated in a foreign currency becomes feasible. We extend this literature in the context of a multinational corporation (MNC) by modeling the rivalry between equity and debt under a modified general equilibrium framework. We derive (i) internat...

We are concerned with trade in transport services (not cabotage but rather international shipping, transport, and related logistical services) and the importance of competition and market structure in the sector. We examine implications of liberalization for profits, trade, and national gains from trade. Though past GATS maritime negotiations involved the maritime nations, we also flag interest...

We study the role of the quality of institutions as a determinant of the location of FDI, using bilateral FDI stocks from OECD countries around the world. While the literature has placed special emphasis on the role of corruption on FDI, we explore a wider range of institutional aspects. We find that better institutions have overall a positive and significant effect on FDI. Especially, unpredic...

This paper examines the effect of the presence of multinational companies on plant survival in the host country. We postulate that multinational companies can impact positively on plant survival through technology spillovers. We study the nature of the effect of multinationals using a Cox proportional hazard model which we estimate using plant level data for Irish manufacturing industries. Our ...

Paying More to Hire the Best? Foreign Firms, Wages and Worker Mobility In the context of the debate on the labour-market consequences of globalisation, we examine worker mobility in order to identify the wage differences between foreign and domestic firms. Using matched employer-employee panel data for Portugal, we consider virtually all spells of interfirm mobility over a period of ten years. ...

In this paper, I explore the effect of fragmentation of production processes on social welfare in the imperfectly competitive market. In particular, I examine the welfare properties of fragmentation from the viewpoint of industrialized countries. Firms located at a country decide whether they produce at home or move their production overseas. I show that there exists Nash equilibrium in which a...

This paper investigates whether exporting generates positive productivity spillover effects on other plants operating in the same industry and whether exporting affects productivity of plants in vertically related industries. Using plant-level data from Chile we find that exporters improve productivity of their local suppliers but not of plants that purchase intermediate inputs from them. We al...