IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eecrev/v55y2011i6p845-861.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When is FDI a capital flow?

Author

Listed:
  • Marin, Dalia
  • Schnitzer, Monika

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the conditions under which a foreign direct investment (FDI) involves a net capital flow across countries. For this purpose, we investigate how multinational firms finance their foreign affiliates, globally or locally. We develop a contract theoretical model in which the financing structure is used to govern the incentives of managers. We find that the investment tends to be financed locally if managerial incentive problems are large. Thus, microeconomic governance problems may have macroeconomic implications for the net capital flow to host countries. Our results are consistent with survey data on German and Austrian investment flows of firms to Eastern Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Marin, Dalia & Schnitzer, Monika, 2011. "When is FDI a capital flow?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(6), pages 845-861, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:55:y:2011:i:6:p:845-861
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292110001017
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leo Ferraris & Raoul Minetti, 2007. "Foreign Lenders and the Real Sector," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(4), pages 945-964, June.
    2. Kesternich, Iris & Schnitzer, Monika, 2010. "Who is afraid of political risk? Multinational firms and their choice of capital structure," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 208-218, November.
    3. Lucas, Robert E, Jr, 1990. "Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 92-96, May.
    4. Pol Antràs & Mihir A. Desai & C. Fritz Foley, 2009. "Multinational Firms, FDI Flows, and Imperfect Capital Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1171-1219.
    5. Marin, Dalia, 2004. "'A Nation of Poets and Thinkers' - Less So with Eastern Enlargement? Austria and Germany," Discussion Papers in Economics 329, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    6. Marin, Dalia, 2004. "‘A Nation of Poets and Thinkers’ - Less So with Eastern Enlargement? Austria and Germany," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 77, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    7. Chowdhry, Bhagwan & Nanda, Vikram, 1994. "Financing of multinational subsidiaries: Parent debt vs. external debt," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 259-281, August.
    8. Ann E. Harrison & Margaret S. McMillan, 2022. "Does direct foreign investment affect domestic credit constraints?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 7, pages 153-180, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Marin, Dalia & Lorentowicz, Andzelika & Raubold, Alexander, 2002. "Ownership, Capital or Outsourcing: What Drives German Investment to Eastern Europe?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3515, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Ann E. Harrison & Inessa Love & Margaret S. McMillan, 2022. "Global capital flows and financing constraints," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 8, pages 181-213, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Benjamin Hermalin & Andrew K. Rose & Peter M. Garber & Andrew Crockett & David W. Mullins, Jr, 1999. "Risks to Lenders and Borrowers in International Capital Markets," NBER Chapters, in: International Capital Flows, pages 363-420, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Kenneth A. Froot & Jeremy C. Stein, 1991. "Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment: An Imperfect Capital Markets Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1191-1217.
    13. Feldstein, Martin & Horioka, Charles, 1980. "Domestic Saving and International Capital Flows," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(358), pages 314-329, June.
    14. Albuquerque, Rui & Loayza, Norman & Serven, Luis, 2005. "World market integration through the lens of foreign direct investors," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 267-295, July.
    15. Michel A. Habib & D. Bruce Johnsen, 1999. "The Financing and Redeployment of Specific Assets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 693-720, April.
    16. Marin, Dalia & Schnitzer, Monika, 1995. "Tying Trade Flows: A Theory of Countertrade with Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1047-1064, December.
    17. Dalia Marin & Monika Schnitzer, 2002. "Contracts in Trade and Transition: The Resurgence of Barter," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262133997, April.
    18. Chowdhry, Bhagwan & Coval, Joshua D., 1998. "Internal financing of multinational subsidiaries: Debt vs. equity1," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 87-106, March.
    19. Philippe Aghion & Patrick Bolton, 1992. "An Incomplete Contracts Approach to Financial Contracting," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(3), pages 473-494.
    20. Robert H. Gertner & David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 1994. "Internal versus External Capital Markets," NBER Working Papers 4776, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Martin Feldstein, 2000. "Aspects of Global Economic Intergration: Outlook for the Future," NBER Working Papers 7899, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Robert H. Gertner & David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 1994. "Internal versus External Capital Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 1211-1230.
    23. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:2451-2487 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Asmund Rygh & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2018. "Capital Structure of Foreign Direct Investments: A Transaction Cost Analysis," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 389-411, June.
    2. Ausloos, Marcel & Eskandary, Ali & Kaur, Parmjit & Dhesi, Gurjeet, 2019. "Evidence for Gross Domestic Product growth time delay dependence over Foreign Direct Investment. A time-lag dependent correlation study," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 527(C).
    3. Koehler-Geib, Friederike Norma, 2008. "The Effect of Uncertainty on the Occurrence and Spread of Financial Crises," Munich Dissertations in Economics 8067, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    4. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Monika Schnitzer, 2013. "Financial Constraints And Innovation: Why Poor Countries Don'T Catch Up," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(5), pages 1115-1152, October.
    5. Hanousek, Jan & Kočenda, Evžen & Mašika, Michal, 2012. "Firm efficiency: Domestic owners, coalitions, and FDI," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 471-486.
    6. Asmund Rygh & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2023. "Subsidiary Capital Structure in Multinational Enterprises: A New Internalization Theory Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 63(6), pages 979-1019, December.
    7. Vo, Xuan Vinh & Nguyen, Dong Phong & Ho, Viet Tien & Nguyen, Trung Thong, 2017. "Where do the advanced countries invest? An investigation of capital flows from advanced countries to emerging economies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 142-154.
    8. Jan Hanousek & Evžen Kočenda & Michal Mašika, 2012. "Firemní efektivita: vliv vlastnických struktur a finančních ukazatelů [Corporate Efficiency: Effect of Ownership Structures and Financial Indicators]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(4), pages 459-483.
    9. ZHANG, Jiarui & HOU, Lei, 2014. "Financial structure, productivity, and risk of foreign direct investment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 652-669.
    10. Kandilov, Ivan T. & Leblebicioğlu, Aslı & Petkova, Neviana, 2017. "Cross-border mergers and acquisitions: The importance of local credit and source country finance," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 288-318.
    11. Marin, Dalia & Doerr, Sebastian & Suverato, Davide & Verdier, Thierry, 2020. "Mis-allocation Within Firms: Internal Finance and International Trade," CEPR Discussion Papers 14478, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Elena Chirila-Donciu, 2013. "Globalization And Foreign Direct Investments," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 5(2), pages 177-186.
    13. Kandilov, Ivan T. & Leblebicioğlu, Asli & Petkova, Neviana, 2016. "The impact of banking deregulation on inbound foreign direct investment: Transaction-level evidence from the United States," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 138-159.
    14. Lund, Diderik, 2009. "Marginal versus Average Beta of Equity under Corporate Taxation," Memorandum 12/2009, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    15. -, 2016. "Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2016," La Inversión Extranjera Directa en América Latina y el Caribe, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 40214 edited by Eclac, May.
    16. Klára KATONA, 2017. "Primary Sources Of Corporate Investment In Hungary," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business (continues Analele Stiintifice), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 64(2), pages 215-232, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Akbel, Basak & Schnitzer, Monika, 2011. "Creditor rights and debt allocation within multinationals," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1367-1379, June.
    2. Marin, Dalia, 2005. "A New International Division of Labor in Europe: Offshoring and Outsourcing to Eastern Europe," Discussion Papers in Economics 714, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    3. Goldbach, Stefan & Møen, Jarle & Schindler, Dirk & Schjelderup, Guttorm & Wamser, Georg, 2021. "The tax-efficient use of debt in multinational corporations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Dalia Marin, 2006. "A New International Division of Labor in Europe: Outsourcing and Offshoring to Eastern Europe," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(2-3), pages 612-622, 04-05.
    5. Asmund Rygh & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2018. "Capital Structure of Foreign Direct Investments: A Transaction Cost Analysis," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 389-411, June.
    6. Alquist, Ron & Berman, Nicolas & Mukherjee, Rahul & Tesar, Linda L., 2019. "Financial constraints, institutions, and foreign ownership," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 63-83.
    7. Yuko Hashimoto & Konstantin M. Wacker, 2012. "The Role of Risk and Information for International Capital Flows: New Evidence from the SDDS," Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers 124, Courant Research Centre PEG.
    8. Asmund Rygh & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2023. "Subsidiary Capital Structure in Multinational Enterprises: A New Internalization Theory Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 63(6), pages 979-1019, December.
    9. C. Fritz Foley & Kalina Manova, 2015. "International Trade, Multinational Activity, and Corporate Finance," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 119-146, August.
    10. Jarle Møen & Dirk Schindler & Guttorm Schjelderup & Julia Tropina Bakke, 2019. "International Debt Shifting: The Value-Maximizing Mix of Internal and External Debt," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 431-465, September.
    11. Selin Sayek & Mr. Alexander Lehmann & Hyoung Goo Kang, 2004. "Multinational Affiliates and Local Financial Markets," IMF Working Papers 2004/107, International Monetary Fund.
    12. Stein, Jeremy C., 2003. "Agency, information and corporate investment," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 111-165, Elsevier.
    13. Desbordes, Rodolphe & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2017. "The effects of financial development on foreign direct investment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 153-168.
    14. Schindler, Dirk & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2012. "Debt shifting and ownership structure," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 635-647.
    15. Jarle Møen & Dirk Schindler & Guttorm Schjelderup & Julia Tropina, 2011. "International Debt Shifting: Do Multinationals Shift Internal or External Debt?," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2011-40, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    16. Egger, Peter & Keuschnigg, Christian & Merlo, Valeria & Wamser, Georg, 2011. "Corporate Taxes, Internal Borrowing, and the Lending Capacity within Multinational Firms," Economics Working Paper Series 1142, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    17. Filiz-Ozbay, Emel, 2012. "Incorporating unawareness into contract theory," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 181-194.
    18. Andzelika Lorentowicz & Dalia Marin & Alexander Raubold, 2005. "Is Human Capital Losing from Outsourcing? Evidence for Austria and Poland," CESifo Working Paper Series 1616, CESifo.
    19. Dietrich, Diemo & Jindra, Björn, 2010. "Corporate governance in the multinational enterprise: A financial contracting perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 446-456, October.
    20. Roman Inderst & Holger M. Mueller & Felix Münnich, 2006. "Financing a Portfolio of Projects," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(4), pages 1289-1325.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Multinational firms Firm specific capital costs Internal capital markets;

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:55:y:2011:i:6:p:845-861. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eer .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.