The paper argues that cost of capital comparisons across closely held companies and entrepreneurial ventures on the one hand and widely held companies on the other, ought not to be based on an equal level assumption regarding the investors' required rates of return, net of taxes. Theoretical...

In Europe, accounting standards prevent larger expenditures on employer-sponsored training from being treated as investments. Using Sweden as example, we discuss two consequences for training. First, the timing: training will be conducted when income is large enough for training costs to be...

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is the dominant form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), but has received but scarce attention in the theory literature on trade and investment. This paper highlights how the international pattern of ownership of productive assets may depend on features of trade...

This paper presents recent trends in the foreign activities of Swedish multinationals. The focus is on the distribution of production and R&D between the MNCs' domestic and foreign units, and the pattern of trade within the firms. Issues concerning entry modes and the importance of information...

Investment liberalizing countries are often concerned that cross-border mergers & acquisitions might have an adverse effect on domestic firms and benefit multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, given that domestic assets are sufficiently scarce, we identify a preemption effect and an asset...

This paper determines the equilibrium market structure in a mixed international oligopoly, where the state assets are sold at an auction. The model suggests that low greenfield costs and low trade costs induce foreign acquisitions. The intuition is that domestic firms can then not prevent...