Differentiated products and evasion of import tariffs

Emerging literature has demonstrated some unique characteristics of trade in differentiated products. This paper contributes to the literature by postulating that differentiated products may be subject to greater tariff evasion due to the difficulties associated with assessing their quality and price. Using product-level data on trade between Germany and 10 Eastern European countries during 1992-2003, the authors find empirical support for this hypothesis. They show that the trade gap, defined as the discrepancy between the value of exports reported by Germany and the value of imports from Germany reported by the importing country, is positively related to the level of tariff in 8 out of 10 countries. Further, the authors show that the responsiveness of the trade gap to the tariff level is greater for differentiated products than for homogeneous goods. A one-percentage-point increase in the tariff rate is associated with a 0.6 percent increase in the trade gap in the case of homogeneous products and a 2.1 percent increase in the case of differentiated products. Finally, the data indicate that greater tariff evasion observed for differentiated products tends to take place through misrepresentation of the import prices.Free Trade,International Trade and Trade Rules,Water and Industry,Markets and Market Access,Commodities

Do the biggest aisles serve a brighter future ? global retail chains and their implications for Romania

During the past two decades many economies have opened their retail sector to foreign direct investment, yet little is known about possible implications of such liberalization on the economies of developing host countries. Using firm-level data from Romania, this study examines how the presence of global retail chains affects firms in the supplying industries. Applying a difference-in-differences method, the econometric analyses yield the following conclusions. The expansion of global retail chains leads to a significant increase in the total factor productivity in the supplying industries. Their presence in a region increases the total factor productivity of firms in the supplying industries by 15.2 percent and doubling the number of chains leads to a 10.8 percent increase in total factor productivity. However, the expansion benefits larger firms the most and has a much smaller impact on small enterprises. This conclusion is robust to several extensions and specifications, including the instrumental variable approach. These results suggest that the opening of the retail sector to foreign direct investment may stimulate productivity growth in upstream manufacturing and extend our understanding of foreign direct investment in service sectors.Food&Beverage Industry,Markets and Market Access,E-Business,Economic Theory&Research,Access to Markets

Liquidity constraints and linkages with multinationals

Using a unique data set from the Czech Republic for 1994-2003, this study examines the relationship between a firm's liquidity constraints and its supply linkages with multinational corporations (MNCs). The empirical analysis indicates that Czech firms supplying MNCs are less credit constrained than non-suppliers. A closer inspection of the timing of the effect, however, suggests that this result is due to less constrained firms self-selecting into becoming MNC suppliers rather than the benefits derived from the supplying relationship. As recent literature finds that productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) are most likely to take place through contacts between MNCs and their local suppliers, our finding suggests that well-developed financial markets may be needed in order to take full advantage of the benefits associated with FDI inflows. --foreign direct investment,cash flow,liquidity constraints

Tough Love: Do Czech Suppliers Learn from Their Relationships with Multinationals?

Many countries strive to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) hoping that knowledge brought by multinationals will spill over to domestic industries and increase their productivity. While the empirical studies have cast doubt on the existence of horizontal spillovers from FDI in developing countries, several recent papers have confirmed the presence of vertical spillovers, which take place through contacts between foreign affiliates and their local suppliers. However, the existing studies rely on industry-level proxies for vertical spillovers rather than information on actual relationships between local companies and multinationals. This study goes one step further by employing a unique dataset from the Czech Republic, which allows us to identify local firms supplying multinationals operating in the country. The data suggest that suppliers are different from other firms. They are larger, have a higher capital-labor ratio, pay higher wages and exhibit a higher productivity level. The evidence is suggestive of both high productivity firms having a higher probability of supplying multinationals as well as suppliers learning from their relationships with multinationals.foreign direct investment, technological spillovers, suppliers

Liquidity Constraints and Linkages with Multinationals

Using a unique data set from the Czech Republic for 1994-2003, this study examines the relationship between a firm’s liquidity constraints and its supply linkages with multinational corporations (MNCs). The empirical analysis indicates that Czech firms supplying MNCs are less credit constrained than non-suppliers. A closer inspection of the timing of the effect, however, suggests that this result is due to less constrained firms self-selecting into becoming MNC suppliers rather than the benefits derived from the supplying relationship. As recent literature finds that productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) are most likely to take place through contacts between MNCs and their local suppliers, our finding suggests that well-developed financial markets may be needed in order to take full advantage of the benefits associated with FDI inflows.foreign direct investment, cash flow, liquidity constraints

The EU Factor and Slovak International Integration: the Role of Foreign Direct Investment

While the impact of EU conditionalities associated with recent EU-accession negotiations has been widely discussed, little attention has been given to the effect of post-1998 EU reforms on Slovakia's greater integration with the global economy. The convergence of Slovakia's institutions and policies with the EU's acquis communautaire has led to a dramatic increase in inflows of foreign direct investment into Slovakia in 2000/02. The available information suggests that the entry of foreign firms has been beneficial in inserting the Slovak economy firmly into the pan-European division of labor and raising the productivity of domestic firms.Europeanization; regional integration; foreign direct investment; spillovers

Trade protection and industry wage structure in Poland

The authors examine the impact of Poland's trade liberalization in 1994-2001 on the industry wage structure. The liberalization was undertaken in preparation for Poland's accession to the European Union and was more pronounced in industries with larger shares of unskilled labor. Their analysis indicates that a decrease in an industry tariff was associated with higher wages being earned by workers employed in the industry, controlling for worker characteristics and geographic variables. The result is robust to including year and industry fixed effects, controlling for industry-level exports, imports, concentration, stock of foreign direct investment, and capital accumulation. The finding is consistent with liberalization increasing competitive pressures, forcing firms to restructure and improve their productivity, which in turn translates into higher profits being shared with workers. It could also be potentially attributed to trade liberalization lowering the costs of imported inputs, which enhances firm profitability. The result holds when skilled workers are excluded from the sample, thus suggesting that reductions in trade barriers benefited the unskilled in terms of an increase in wages.Environmental Economics&Policies,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Theory&Research,Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform

Does it matter where you come from? vertical spillovers from foreign direct investment and the nationality of investors

The authors use a firm-level panel data set from Romania to examine whether the nationality of foreign investors affects the degree of vertical spillovers from foreign direct investment. Investors'country of origin may matter for spillovers to domestic producers in upstream sectors (supplying intermediate inputs) in two ways. First, the share of intermediate inputs sourced by multinationals from a host country is likely to increase with the distance between the host and the source economy. Second, the sourcing pattern is likely to be affected by preferential trade agreements that cover some but not other source economies. In this case, the Association Agreement signed between Romania and the European Union (EU) implies that inputs sourced from the EU are subject to a lower tariff than inputs sourced from America or Asia. Moreover, while for European investors intermediate inputs sourced from home country suppliers comply with the rules of origin and thus can be exported to the EU on preferential terms, this would not be the case for home country suppliers of American or Asian multinationals. Therefore, one would expect that American and Asian investors source more from Romania than EU investors and thus present greater potential for vertical spillovers. The empirical analysis produces evidence in support of the authors'hypothesis. They find a positive association between the presence of American and Asian companies in downstream sectors and the productivity of Romanian firms in the supplying industries. Further, the productivity of Romanian firms in the supplying sectors is negatively correlated with operations of European investors in downstream sectors. The differences between the effects associated with investors of different origin are statistically significant.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Labor Policies,Small and Medium Size Enterprises,Environmental Economics&Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Economic Theory&Research,Microfinance,Private Participation in Infrastructure

Migrant Networks and Foreign Direct Investment

While there exists a sizeable literature documenting the importance of ethnic networks for international trade, little attention has been devoted to studying the effects of networks on foreign direct investment (FDI). The existence of ethnic networks may positively affect FDI by promoting information flows across international borders and by serving as a contract enforcement mechanism. This paper investigates the link between the presence of migrants in the US and US FDI in the migrants’ countries of origin, taking into account the potential endogeneity concerns. The results suggest that US FDI abroad is positively correlated with the presence of migrants from the host country. The data further indicate that the relationship between FDI and migration is driven by the presence of migrants with college education.migration, foreign direct investment, ethnic networks