A Guide to BEA Statistics on U.S. Multinational Companies

BEA’s statistics on U.S. multinational companies (MNC’s) provide a comprehensive and integrated data set for empirical analysis of MNC’s. Balance of payments data measure transactions between U.S. parents and their foreign affiliates, and direct investment position data measure the cumulative value of parents” investments in their affiliates. Financial and operating data provide a wide variety of indicators of the overall domestic and foreign operations of U.S. MNC’s. BEA’s statistics can help to answer such questions as "Where are U.S. MNC’s investing?" "Are U.S. companies shifting their operations abroad?" and "What portion of U.S. cross-border trade is between U.S. parents and their foreign affiliates?"