Profitability and Ownership Structure of U.S. Ventures Abroad: Why Are Majority-Owned Affiliates More Profitable Than Other U.S. Affiliates?

Abstract This paper explores a striking empirical pattern that has gone unnoticed in the literature: U.S. multinationals' majority-owned ventures abroad are more profitable than their minority-owned and 50-50 joint ventures. On average, majority-owned foreign affiliates in manufacturing earned a 6.4% return on assets in 1977-2003, compared to 3% for other U.S. affiliates abroad. This pattern is found across most sectors and countries. We explain these findings with a new theoretical framework that views both the ownership structure and the profitability of a foreign venture as functions of the value created by the ownership-specific capabilities that the MNC brings to a host country. These capabilities can give it a competitive advantage against the local firms. Where these capabilities are strong, the MNC is likely to choose whole or majority ownership; its profits are also likely to be highest in these activities. Where the firm's capabilities are weak, it is likely to seek additional capabilities from local firms through a joint venture; these investments are also likely to yield lower profits. We test these theoretical predictions by constructing measures of the revealed international competitive advantage of U.S. MNCs. Our analysis confirms that the profitability gap is significantly higher in sectors where U.S. MNCs are more competitive. We also test for the possible effects of affiliate size, age, non-dividend payments and host country characteristics including tax rates, GDP per capita and policies towards foreign direct investment

Development, genetic mapping and QTL association of cotton PHYA, PHYB, and HY5-specific CAPS and dCAPS markers

BACKGROUND: Among SNP markers that become increasingly valuable in molecular breeding of crop plants are the CAPS and dCAPS markers derived from the genes of interest. To date, the number of such gene-based markers is small in polyploid crop plants such as allotetraploid cotton that has A- and D-sub-genomes. The objective of this study was to develop and map new CAPS and dCAPS markers for cotton developmental-regulatory genes that are important in plant breeding programs. RESULTS: Gossypium hirsutum and G. barbadense, are the two cultivated allotetraploid cotton species. These have distinct fiber quality and other agronomic traits. Using comparative sequence analysis of characterized GSTs of the PHYA1, PHYB, and HY5 genes of G. hirsutum and G. barbadense one PHYA1-specific Mbo I/Dpn II CAPS, one PHYB-specific Alu I dCAPS, and one HY5-specific Hinf I dCAPS cotton markers were developed. These markers have successfully differentiated the two allotetraploid genomes (AD(1) and AD(2)) when tested in parental genotypes of ‘Texas Marker-1’ (‘TM-1’), ‘Pima 3–79’ and their F(1) hybrids. The genetic mapping and chromosome substitution line-based deletion analyses revealed that PHYA1 gene is located in A-sub-genome chromosome 11, PHYB gene is in A-sub-genome chromosome 10, and HY5 gene is in D-sub-genome chromosome 24, on the reference ‘TM-1’ x ‘Pima 3–79’ RIL genetic map. Further, it was found that genetic linkage map regions containing phytochrome and HY5-specific markers were associated with major fiber quality and flowering time traits in previously published QTL mapping studies. CONCLUSION: This study detailed the genome mapping of three cotton phytochrome genes with newly developed CAPS and dCAPS markers. The proximity of these loci to fiber quality and other cotton QTL was demonstrated in two A-subgenome and one D-subgenome chromosomes. These candidate gene markers will be valuable for marker-assisted selection (MAS) programs to rapidly introgress G. barbadense phytochromes and/or HY5 gene (s) into G. hirsutum cotton genotypes or vice versa. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12863-016-0448-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Próximos pasos del NAMA Ganadería en Costa Rica: Síntesis de las consultas con actores y evaluación rápida de su estado actual

La NAMA Ganadería de Costa Rica tiene como objetivo realizar un cambio en la forma de producción del sector ganadero costarricense con miras a una ganadería eco-competitiva. Las alianzas público-privadas-académicas evalúan y co-desarrollan los elementos técnicos e institucionales necesarios para construir la NAMA. Los componentes clave del desarrollo de la NAMA en su primera fase piloto (2013-2021) están bien encaminados para desarrollar una propuesta robusta hacia el escalonamiento e implementación de las metas propuestas a 2030

Next steps of the Livestock NAMA in Costa Rica: Synthesis of stakeholder consultations and rapid assessment of their current status

Livestock NAMA in Costa Rica aims to transform the livestock production sector to achieve ecocompetitive livestock farming. n Public-private-academic partnerships evaluate and co-develop the technical and institutional building blocks of the NAMA. n The key components of NAMA development in its first pilot phase (2013-2021) are well on the track to develop a robust proposal for scaling out and implementation of the goals proposed by 2030

Kin5 Knockdown in Tetrahymena thermophila Using RNAi Blocks Cargo Transport of Gef1

A critical process that builds and maintains the eukaryotic cilium is intraflagellar transport (IFT). This process utilizes members of the kinesin-2 superfamily to transport cargo into the cilium (anterograde transport) and a dynein motor for the retrograde traffic. Using a novel RNAi knockdown method, we have analyzed the function of the homodimeric IFT kinesin-2, Kin5, in Tetrahymena ciliary transport. In RNAi transformants, Kin5 was severely downregulated and disappeared from the cilia, but cilia did not resorb, although tip structure was affected. After deciliation of the knockdown cell, cilia regrew and cells swam, which suggested that Kin5 is not responsible for the trafficking of axonemal precursors to build the cilium, but could be transporting molecules that act in ciliary signal transduction, such as guanine nucleotide exchange proteins (GEFs). Gef1 is a Tetrahymena ciliary protein, and current coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence studies showed that it is absent in regrowing cilia of the knockdown cells lacking ciliary Kin5. We suggest that one important cargo of Kin5 is Gef1 and knockdown of Kin5 results in cell lethality

Subdominant/Cryptic CD8 T Cell Epitopes Contribute to Resistance against Experimental Infection with a Human Protozoan Parasite

During adaptive immune response, pathogen-specific CD8+ T cells recognize preferentially a small number of epitopes, a phenomenon known as immunodominance. Its biological implications during natural or vaccine-induced immune responses are still unclear. Earlier, we have shown that during experimental infection, the human intracellular pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi restricts the repertoire of CD8+ T cells generating strong immunodominance. We hypothesized that this phenomenon could be a mechanism used by the parasite to reduce the breath and magnitude of the immune response, favoring parasitism, and thus that artificially broadening the T cell repertoire could favor the host. Here, we confirmed our previous observation by showing that CD8+ T cells of H-2a infected mice recognized a single epitope of an immunodominant antigen of the trans-sialidase super-family. In sharp contrast, CD8+ T cells from mice immunized with recombinant genetic vaccines (plasmid DNA and adenovirus) expressing this same T. cruzi antigen recognized, in addition to the immunodominant epitope, two other subdominant epitopes. This unexpected observation allowed us to test the protective role of the immune response to subdominant epitopes. This was accomplished by genetic vaccination of mice with mutated genes that did not express a functional immunodominant epitope. We found that these mice developed immune responses directed solely to the subdominant/cryptic CD8 T cell epitopes and a significant degree of protective immunity against infection mediated by CD8+ T cells. We concluded that artificially broadening the T cell repertoire contributes to host resistance against infection, a finding that has implications for the host-parasite relationship and vaccine development