Beschäftigungswirkungen von Auslandsinvestitionen: das Beispiel Japan

This article offers an analysis of the domestic employment effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) for Japan between 1991 and 1996. After reviewing the current discussion in and outside Japan, the direct effects of Japanese overseas investment on trade, domestic production and employment are presented and discussed, based on detailed data provided by the MITI. The results show that Japanese FDI had strong positive effects on domestic production and employment by stimulating exports of capital goods nearly equaling negative effects by export displacement and rising imports. Taking into account indirect effects as well as the fact that most FDI does not really substitute exports but takes place only as an outcome of import barriers and a regional shift of location advantages, it is argued that Japanese FDI had a clear positive overall effect on domestic employment so far. The low degree of production abroad by international standards even implies a special need for the Japanese industry to further accelerate the shift of production activities abroad to accelerate structural changes at home that ensure a high level of employment and wages in the long run.