Intrafirm Trade of US MNCs: Findings and Implications for Models and Policies Toward Trade and Investment

Feinberg, Susan and Keane, Michael (2005): Intrafirm Trade of US MNCs: Findings and Implications for Models and Policies Toward Trade and Investment. Published in: Does Foreign Direct Investment Promote Development? No. Institute for International Economics, Moran, Graham and Blomstrom (eds.) (April 2005): pp. 245-271.

Abstract

Researchers have found mixed results on whether FDI generates positive spillovers that improve the efficiency of host country economies. We argue that these inconclusive results may be due (in part) to the substantial heterogeneity in MNC affiliate activity, which prior research has largely ignored. We examine one important source of heterogeneity - whether an affiliate is organized to trade intra-firm. In a descriptive analysis of affiliate activity in 49 developing countries from 1983 to 1996, we find that MNC affiliates that are organized to trade intra-firm differ in important ways from those that are note: They pay higher wages, they experience higher growth in PPE, and they are considerably more dynamic technologically.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Foreign direct investment, Intra-firm Trade, International trade, Development, Technology Spillovers
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F14 - Empirical Studies of Trade; F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F23 - Multinational Firms ; International Business; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O10 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O30 - General

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