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Fancy a Stay at the 'Hotel California'? Foreign Direct Investment, Taxation and Firing Costs

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  • Görg, Holger

    (Kiel Institute for the World Economy)

Abstract

This paper looks at the trade off between investment incentives and exit costs for the location of foreign direct investment (FDI). This issue does not appear to have been tackled in much detail in the literature. The analysis considers the effect of profit taxation (as a measure of investment incentives) and an index of hiring and firing costs (proxying exit costs) on the location of US outward FDI in 33 host countries. The results suggest that US FDI, in particular in manufacturing is negatively affected by the level of profit taxation and exit costs. Hence, if countries want to attract FDI it may not suffice that incentives are provided in order to ease the entry of multinationals. Instead, it also appears to be important that exit costs are at a level attractive to multinationals. In other words, multinationals may not check into an attractive looking Hotel California type host country if it is difficult to leave.

Suggested Citation

  • Görg, Holger, 2002. "Fancy a Stay at the 'Hotel California'? Foreign Direct Investment, Taxation and Firing Costs," IZA Discussion Papers 665, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp665
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Pierre, Gaelle & Scarpetta, Stefano, 2004. "Employment regulations through the eyes of employers - do they matter and how do firms respond to them?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3463, The World Bank.
    4. Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati, 2015. "Rewards of (Dis)Integration," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 68(1), pages 3-27, January.
    5. Pierre, Gaelle & Scarpetta, Stefano, 2007. "How labor market policies can combine workers'protection with job creation : a partial review of some key issues and policy options," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 41439, The World Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    investment incentives; taxation; firing costs; exit costs; foreign direct investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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