To serve foreign markets, firms can either export or set up a local subsidiary through horizontal Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The conventional proximity-concentration theory suggests that FDI substitutes for trade if distance between countries is large, while exports become more important...

The activities of multinational enterprises drive the economic globalization process to a very large degree. This paper lists some facts about their dominant role in all channels of globalization. Therefore, the importance of multinational enterprises in foreign direct investment and production...

It is common to observe that demand elasticities in trade equations for imports are implausibly large, and that they differ between countries. Both of these present us with problems, as they imply trade will rise without bound as a proportion of GDP. The research reported here looks for...

This paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of foreign activities of German banks. We use regionally disaggregated panel data for the years 1981-98 and distinguish foreign direct investment from total foreign assets of domestic banks, of their foreign branches and their...

This paper analyzes the effects of 3D printing technologies on the volume of trade and on the structure of FDI. A standard model with firm-specific heterogeneity generates three main predictions. First, 3D printers are introduced in areas with high economic activity that also face high transport...

The “One Belt and One Road” (OBOR) project was started by the Chinese government with the aim of achieving sustainable economic development and increasing cooperation with other countries. This project has five major objectives, which include (i) increasing trade flow, (ii) encouraging...

This paper examines the extent to which foreign direct investment (FDI) affects child labor. Using 1995 data for 145 countries, we find that, contrary to common fears, FDI is negatively correlated with child labor. This effect, however, disappears when controlling for per capita income. After...

2008 was marked by major changes in the world economy: the international integration based on money and capital markets fell into a deep crisis. This article examines how foreign direct investment - together with international trade - can replace those money and capital markets in the role of...