TY  - JOUR
AU  - Head,Keith
AU  - Ries,John
TI  - Heterogeneity and the FDI versus Export Decision of Japanese Manufacturers
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 10052
PY  - 2003
Y2  - October 2003
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10052
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10052.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Keith Head
Sauder School of Business, UBC
2053 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC  V6T 1Z2
CANADA
Tel: 6048228492
Fax: 6048228477
E-Mail: keith.head@commerce.ubc.ca

John Ries
University of British Columbia
Faculty of Commerce
2053 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC  V6T1Z2, Canada
Tel: 604-224-8493
E-Mail: john.ries@sauder.ubc.ca
AB  - We investigate whether productivity differences explain why some manufacturers sell only to the domestic market while others serve foreign markets through exports and/or FDI. When overseas production offers no cost advantages, our model predicts that investors should be more productive than exporters. An extension allowing for low-cost foreign production can reverse this prediction. Data for 1070 large Japanese firms reveal that firms that invest abroad and export are more productive than firms that just export. Among overseas investors, more productive firms span a wider range of host-country income levels.
ER  -