EXCHANGE RATES AND INVESTMENT BY MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS: A Firm-Level Test of the Imperfect Capital Markets Result.

The real value of the U.S. dollar and the level of U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) have shown a strong correlation since the 1970s. Previous empirical studies on this relationship use primarily national or industry level data. This study uses firm-level data to test the hypothesis that exchange rates affect investment decisions of corporations by affecting the foreign currency value of their internal wealth. Implications from this model of firm behavior are tested using firm-level and geographically detailed data from U.S. national and multinational corporations. The results are inconsistent with the wealth effect explanation of FDI.