IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/asiaec/v36y2022i4p385-410.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of outward foreign direct investment on employment volatility: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yuting Cen
  • Nannan Dong

Abstract

Does outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) help stabilize employment in the home country? This paper studies the relationship between the volatility of employment growth and the OFDI of a firm using matched data of Chinese firms from 2000 to 2019. The empirical analysis shows that employment in OFDI firms is less volatile than that in non‐OFDI firms. For firms in the eastern coastal areas of China, OFDI has a more obvious effect in restraining employment volatility. OFDI is also conducive to reducing employment volatility for firms that conduct OFDI in Asian, European, and American countries. Firms in the service sector conducting OFDI see a greater reduction in employment volatility. In addition, OFDI affects employment volatility mainly through the channels of technological innovation and production transfers. This study recommends that the government enact reforms in the domestic market to encourage more firms in China to invest.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuting Cen & Nannan Dong, 2022. "Impact of outward foreign direct investment on employment volatility: Evidence from China," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 385-410, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiaec:v:36:y:2022:i:4:p:385-410
    DOI: 10.1111/asej.12283
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/asej.12283
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/asej.12283?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francesco Caselli & Miklós Koren & Milan Lisicky & Silvana Tenreyro, 2020. "Diversification Through Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(1), pages 449-502.
    2. Carlo Altomonte & Tommaso Aquilante & Gábor Békés & Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, 2013. "Internationalization and innovation of firms: evidence and policy [Managing knowledge within and outside the multinational corporation]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 28(76), pages 663-700.
    3. Fan, Haichao & Lin, Faqin & Tang, Lixin, 2018. "Minimum Wage and Outward FDI from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1-19.
    4. Knight, John & Yueh, Linda, 2004. "Job mobility of residents and migrants in urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 637-660, December.
    5. Alejandro Justiniano & Giorgio Primiceri & Andrea Tambalotti, 2011. "Investment Shocks and the Relative Price of Investment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(1), pages 101-121, January.
    6. Stefano Federico & Gaetano Alfredo Minerva, 2008. "Outward FDI and Local Employment Growth in Italy," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(2), pages 295-324, July.
    7. Todaro, Michael P, 1969. "A Model for Labor Migration and Urban Unemployment in Less Developed Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 138-148, March.
    8. Helsley, Robert W. & Strange, William C., 1990. "Matching and agglomeration economies in a system of cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 189-212, September.
    9. Giovanni S.F. Bruno & Anna M. Falzoni & Rodolfo Helg, 2004. "Measuring the effect of globalization on labour demand elasticity: An empirical application to OECD countries," KITeS Working Papers 153, KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Feb 2004.
    10. Mayneris, Florian & Poncet, Sandra & Zhang, Tao, 2018. "Improving or disappearing: Firm-level adjustments to minimum wages in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 20-42.
    11. Jonas D. M. Fisher, 2006. "The Dynamic Effects of Neutral and Investment-Specific Technology Shocks," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(3), pages 413-451, June.
    12. Alessandro Borin & Michele Mancini, 2016. "Foreign direct investment and firm performance: an empirical analysis of Italian firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(4), pages 705-732, November.
    13. Magnus Wiberg, 2020. "Capital controls and the location of industry," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 871-891, April.
    14. repec:oup:ecpoli:v:28:y:2013:i:76:p:663-700 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Pierluigi Montalbano & Silvia Nenci & Carlo Pietrobelli, 2018. "Opening and linking up: firms, GVCs, and productivity in Latin America," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 917-935, April.
    16. Michèle Belot & Jan Boone & Jan Van Ours, 2007. "Welfare‐Improving Employment Protection," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(295), pages 381-396, August.
    17. De Loecker, Jan, 2007. "Do exports generate higher productivity? Evidence from Slovenia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 69-98, September.
    18. Ann E. Harrison & Margaret S. McMillan, 2006. "Outsourcing Jobs? Multinationals and US Employment," NBER Working Papers 12372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Nilsson Hakkala, Katariina & Heyman, Fredrik & Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2014. "Multinational firms, acquisitions and job tasks," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 248-265.
    20. Irving B. Kravis & Robert E. Lipsey, 1988. "The Effect of Multinational Firms' Operations on Their Domestic Employment," NBER Working Papers 2760, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Paul R. Bergin & Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, 2017. "Volatility Due to Offshoring: Theory and Evidence," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: International Macroeconomic Interdependence, chapter 3, pages 45-77, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Duanmu, Jing-Lin & Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Lu, Jane Wenzhen & Clegg, Jeremy, 2022. "Contraction under minimum wages? Operational and financial advantages of multinational subsidiaries in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2).
    2. Sveen, Tommy, 2014. "Capital accumulation, sectoral heterogeneity and the Taylor principle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 20-28.
    3. Elstner, Steffen & Feld, Lars P. & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2018. "The German productivity paradox: Facts and explanations," Ruhr Economic Papers 767, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    4. Votinov, A., 2022. "The effects of additional non-stationary processes on the properties of DSGE-models," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 28-43.
    5. Elstner, Steffen & Grimme, Christian & Kecht, Valentin & Lehmann, Robert, 2022. "The diffusion of technological progress in ICT," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    6. Jean Boivin & Marc P. Giannoni & Dalibor Stevanović, 2020. "Dynamic Effects of Credit Shocks in a Data-Rich Environment," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 272-284, April.
    7. Kim, Jongsoo & Kim, Kwang Hwan & Shim, Myungkyu, 2023. "Are all economic fluctuations bad for consumers?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    8. Andrei Polbin & Sergey Drobyshevsky, 2014. "Developing a Dynamic Stochastic Model of General Equilibrium for the Russian Economy," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 166P, pages 156-156.
    9. Christoph Gortz & John D. Tsoukalas, 2013. "Learning, Capital Embodied Technology and Aggregate Fluctuations," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(4), pages 708-723, October.
    10. Dai, Mi & Maitra, Madhura & Yu, Miaojie, 2016. "Unexceptional exporter performance in China? The role of processing trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 177-189.
    11. Paul Beaudry & Franck Portier, 2014. "News-Driven Business Cycles: Insights and Challenges," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(4), pages 993-1074, December.
    12. Cosmin L. Ilut & Martin Schneider, 2014. "Ambiguous Business Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(8), pages 2368-2399, August.
    13. Ludo Cuyvers & Emmanuel Dhyne & Reth Soeng, 2010. "The effects of internationalisation on domestic labour demand by skills : Firm-level evidence for Belgium," Working Paper Research 206, National Bank of Belgium.
    14. repec:wsr:wpaper:y:2012:i:077 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Andrew T. Foerster & Andreas Hornstein & Pierre-Daniel G. Sarte & Mark W. Watson, 2022. "Aggregate Implications of Changing Sectoral Trends," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(12), pages 3286-3333.
    16. Guido Ascari & Louis Phaneuf & Eric Sims, 2020. "Can New Keynesian Models Survive the Barro-King Curse?," Working Papers 20-05, Chair in macroeconomics and forecasting, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    17. Christoph Gortz & Konstantinos Theodoridis & Christoph Thoenissen, 2023. "The Anatomy of Small Open Economy Productivity Trends," Discussion Papers 23-05, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    18. Ben Zeev, Nadav, 2018. "What can we learn about news shocks from the late 1990s and early 2000s boom-bust period?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 94-105.
    19. Wan-Jung Cheng, 2017. "Explaining Job Polarization: The Role of Heterogeneity in Capital Intensity," IEAS Working Paper : academic research 17-A015, Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, revised Feb 2018.
    20. Moura, Alban, 2021. "Are neutral and investment-specific technology shocks correlated?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    21. Clement Imbert & Marlon Seror & Yifan Zhang & Yanos Zylberberg, 2022. "Migrants and Firms: Evidence from China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(6), pages 1885-1914, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:asiaec:v:36:y:2022:i:4:p:385-410. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eaeaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.