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Vertical Foreign Direct Investment: Make, Sell and (Not) Buy

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  • Chrysovalantou Milliou
  • Joel Sandonis

Abstract

According to conventional wisdom, multinational firms undertake vertical FDI in order to take advantage of cross-border factor cost differences and source the inputs from abroad at better terms. Recent empirical findings though document that this is not always the case. We provide theoretical support to the latter by demonstrating that when there is transfer of intangible assets between a multinational’s vertically related production plants, its parent firm can engage in vertical FDI in order to improve its cross-threat and its input sourcing terms domestically and not abroad as well as in order to exploit its intangible assets in another country. We also investigate the effects of trade liberalization and the welfare consequences of vertical FDI.

Suggested Citation

  • Chrysovalantou Milliou & Joel Sandonis, 2016. "Vertical Foreign Direct Investment: Make, Sell and (Not) Buy," CESifo Working Paper Series 6190, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6190
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    international trade; vertical FDI; inputs; trade liberalization; intangible assets; two-part tariffs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

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