We use Japanese microdata to examine how financial market frictions affect foreign direct investment (FDI). The Japanese land price bubble and banking trouble in the late 1980s and early 1990s serve as a quasi natural experiment to identify two possible transmission channels from financial...

This paper uses micro-data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys 2002-2006 to investigate how foreign ownership affects the likelihood of manufacturers in developing countries to export and/or import. Applying propensity score matching to control for differences across firms in terms of labor...

This paper uses micro-data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys to investigate how foreign ownership affects the likelihood of manufacturers in developing countries to export and/or import both directly and in- directly. Applying propensity score matching to control for differences across...

This paper constructs a model of a supply chain to examine how demand volatility is passed upstream through the chain. In particular, we seek to determine how likely it is that the chain experiences a bullwhip effect, where the variance of the upstream firm's production exceeds the variance of...

The paper shows that taking inventory control out of the hands of competitive or exclusive retailers and assigning it to a manufacturer increases the value of a supply chain especially for goods whose demand is highly volatile. This is because doing so solves incentive distortions that arise...

Using Japanese microdata for the period 1980 to 2000 we find evidence for two transmission channels from financial shocks to foreign direct investment: a collateral channel, whereby changes in the value of investors' landholdings affect their borrowing ability; and a lending channel, whereby...

We use unique plant-level data to study the link between the local availability of services and the decision of manufacturing firms to source materials from abroad. To guide our empirical analysis we develop a monopolistic-competition model of the materials sourcing decisions of heterogeneous...

This paper examines interbrand competition between a domestic and a foreign manufacturer who market their products through intermediaries. The contracts manufacturers offer these intermediaries are endogenous. In equilibrium contracts may specify exclusive territories (ET), depending on the...

This paper examines the pattern of foreign direct investment (FDI) in producer services. We develop a model of FDI in these services and test its predictions using panel data on U.S.FDI in 25 host countries from 1976 to 1995. We find evidence that, in addition to governmental and cultural...

This paper examines how free-trade agreements and customs unions affect the location of foreign direct investment (FDI) and social welfare, taking into account that governments may adjust taxes and external tariffs to compete for FDI. Conditions are identified under which a free-trade agreement...