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Incomplete Contracts and the Product Cycle

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Author Info
Pol Antras

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Abstract

I present a model in which the incomplete nature of contracts governing international transactions limits the extent to which the production process can be fragmented across borders. Because of contractual frictions, goods are initially manufactured in the same country where product development takes place. Only when the good becomes sufficiently standardized is the manufacturing stage of production shifted to a low-wage foreign location. Solving for the optimal organizational structure, I develop a new version of the product cycle hypothesis in which manufacturing is shifted abroad first within firm boundaries, and only at a later stage to independent foreign firms.

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Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review.

Volume (Year): 95 (2005)
Issue (Month): 4 (September)
Pages: 1054-1073
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Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:95:y:2005:i:4:p:1054-1073

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  3. Antràs, Pol & Helpman, Elhanan, 2004. "Global Sourcing," CEPR Discussion Papers 4170, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Georg Nöldeke & Klaus M. Schmidt, 1992. "Option Contracts and Renegotiation - A Solution to the Hold-Up Problem," Discussion Paper Serie A 417, University of Bonn, Germany, revised Aug 1993.
    Other versions:
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  6. Davidson, W H & McFetridge, Donald G, 1984. "International Technology Transactions and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(3), pages 253-64, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Dornbusch, Rudiger & Fischer, Stanley & Samuelson, Paul A, 1977. "Comparative Advantage, Trade, and Payments in a Ricardian Model with a Continuum of Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(5), pages 823-39, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Markusen, James R., 1984. "Multinationals, multi-plant economies, and the gains from trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3-4), pages 205-226, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Jocelyn Glass, Amy & Saggi, Kamal, 2002. "Licensing versus direct investment: implications for economic growth," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 131-153, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 691-719, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Pol Antras, 2004. "Incomplete Contracts and the Product Cycle," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 62, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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  19. Wells, Louis T, Jr, 1969. "Test of a Product Cycle Model of International Trade: U.S. Exports of Consumer Durables," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 83(1), pages 152-62, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  22. John McLaren, 2000. ""Globalization" and Vertical Structure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1239-1254, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1991. "Quality Ladders and Product Cycles," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 106(2), pages 557-86, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  25. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1991. "Endogenous Product Cycles," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(408), pages 1214-29, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  26. Lai, Edwin L. -C., 1998. "International intellectual property rights protection and the rate of product innovation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 133-153, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  28. Helpman, Elhanan, 1993. "Innovation, Imitation, and Intellectual Property Rights," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(6), pages 1247-80, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  29. Ethier, Wilfred J, 1986. "The Multinational Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 101(4), pages 805-33, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  31. Farok J Contractor, 1984. "Choosing Between Direct Investment and Licensing: Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Tests," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 167-188, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  32. Ethier, Wilfred J. & Markusen, James R., 1996. "Multinational firms, technology diffusion and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1-2), pages 1-28, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  33. Vernon, Raymond, 1979. "The Product Cycle Hypothesis in a New International Environment," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 41(4), pages 255-67, November.
  34. Mansfield, Edwin & Romeo, Anthony, 1980. "Technology Transfer to Overseas Subsidiaries by U.S.-Based Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 737-50, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Naghavi, Alireza & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I P, 2006. "Offshoring and Product Innovation," CEPR Discussion Papers 6008, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Markusen, James R., 2005. "Modeling the Offshoring of White-Collar Services: From Comparative Advantage to the New Theories of Trade and FDI," CEPR Discussion Papers 5408, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Debaere, Peter & Mostashari, Shalah, 2005. "Do Tariffs Matter for the Extensive Margin of International Trade? An Empirical Analysis," CEPR Discussion Papers 5260, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Pol Antràs & Elhanan Helpman, 2003. "Global Sourcing," NBER Working Papers 10082, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Fabrice Defever & Farid Toubal, 2007. "Productivity and the Sourcing Modes of Multinational Firms: Evidence from French Firm-Level Data," CEP Discussion Papers dp0842, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  6. Daron Acemoglu & Pol Antràs & Elhanan Helpman, 2005. "Contracts and the Division of Labor," NBER Working Papers 11356, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Diego Puga & Daniel Trefler, 2005. "Wake Up and Smell the Ginseng: The Rise of Incremental Innovation in Low-Wage Countries," NBER Working Papers 11571, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Antras, Pol & Helpman, Elhanan, 2007. "Contractual Frictions and Global Sourcing," CEPR Discussion Papers 6033, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Nathan Nunn, 2005. "Relationship Specificity, Incomplete Contracts and the Pattern of Trade," International Trade 0512018, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Pol Antràs & Luis Garicano & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2005. "Offshoring in a Knowledge Economy," NBER Working Papers 11094, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Devashish Mitra & Priya Ranjan, 2007. "Temporary Shocks and Offshoring: The Role of External Economies and Firm Heterogeneity," IZA Discussion Papers 2811, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  12. Gancia, Gino, 2003. "Globalization, Divergence and Stagnation," Seminar Papers 720, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Christian Keuschnigg & Evelyn Ribi, 2007. "Outsourcing, Unemployment and Welfare Policy," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2007 2007-41, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Khandelwal, Amit, 2006. "The Long and Short (of) Quality Ladders," MPRA Paper 4496, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised May 2008. [Downloadable!]
  15. Pol Antras, 2005. "Incomplete Contracts and the Product Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1054-1073, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Ping Wang & Raymond Riezman, 2008. "Preference Bias and Outsourcing to Market: A Steady-State Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
  17. Laura Alfaro & Areendam Chanda & Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Selin Sayek, 2006. "How Does Foreign Direct Investment Promote Economic Growth? Exploring the Effects of Financial Markets on Linkages," DEGIT Conference Papers c011_023, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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