IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecinqu/v47y2009i4p726-738.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Preservation Of Trade Secrets And Multinational Wage Premia

Author

Listed:
  • DAN BERNHARDT
  • VLADIMIR DVORACEK

Abstract

This paper considers the strategic behavior of a multinational firm with superior technology operating in a developing country. Domestic firms do not have access to the superior technology other than by hiring away multinational corporation (MNC) workers. The MNC can retain its workers by paying a wage premia, and we determine how the industry structure and the nature of strategic competition between firms affects the MNC’s incentive to pay this premia and thus preserve its informational advantage. We characterize conditions under which MNCs inefficiently divide job tasks in order to raise the cost to domestic firms of acquiring the MNC’s trade secrets. (JEL F23, J31, O33)

Suggested Citation

  • Dan Bernhardt & Vladimir Dvoracek, 2009. "Preservation Of Trade Secrets And Multinational Wage Premia," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(4), pages 726-738, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:47:y:2009:i:4:p:726-738
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2008.00142.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2008.00142.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2008.00142.x?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. Wilfred J. Ethier & James R. Markusen, 2021. "Multinational firms, technology diffusion and trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 7, pages 131-158, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 841-864, October.
    3. Morton I. Kamien & Yair Tauman, 1986. "Fees Versus Royalties and the Private Value of a Patent," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(3), pages 471-491.
    4. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, April.
    5. Fosfuri, Andrea & Motta, Massimo & Ronde, Thomas, 2001. "Foreign direct investment and spillovers through workers' mobility," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 205-222, February.
    6. Holger Görg & Eric Strobl, 2016. "Spillovers from Foreign Firms through Worker Mobility: An Empirical Investigation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT, chapter 13, pages 243-259, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales, 2001. "The Firm as a Dedicated Hierarchy: A Theory of the Origins and Growth of Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(3), pages 805-851.
    8. Galina Hale & Cheryl Long, 2006. "What Determines Technological Spillovers of Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from China," Working Papers 934, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    9. Gershenberg, Irving, 1987. "The training and spread of managerial know-how, a comparative analysis of multinational and other firms in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 15(7), pages 931-939, July.
    10. David Greenaway & Robert Hine & Peter Wright, 2000. "Further evidence on the effect of foreign competition on industry level wages," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 136(3), pages 522-538, September.
    11. Mason, R Hal, 1973. "Some Observations on the Choice of Technology by Multinational Firms in Developing Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(3), pages 349-355, August.
    12. Forsyth, David J C & Solomon, Robert F, 1977. "Choice of Technology and Nationality of Ownership in Manufacturing in a Developing Country," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(2), pages 258-282, July.
    13. Lim, David, 1977. "Do foreign companies pay higher wages than their local counterparts in Malaysian manufacturing?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 55-66, February.
    14. J·n Z·bojnÌk, 2002. "A Theory of Trade Secrets in Firms," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(3), pages 831-855, August.
    15. Bernhardt, Dan & Scoones, David, 1993. "Promotion, Turnover, and Preemptive Wage Offers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 771-791, September.
    16. Steven Globerman & John C. Ries & Ilan Vertinsky, 1994. "The Economic Performance of Foreign Affiliates in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 27(1), pages 143-156, February.
    17. repec:bla:scotjp:v:48:y:2001:i:2:p:119-33 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Wilfred J. Ethier, 1986. "The Multinational Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 805-833.
    19. Sinani, Evis & Meyer, Klaus E., 2004. "Spillovers of technology transfer from FDI: the case of Estonia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 445-466, September.
    20. Jan Zábojník & Dan Bernhardt, 2001. "Corporate Tournaments, Human Capital Acquisition, and the Firm Size—Wage Relation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(3), pages 693-716.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Klein, Michael A., 2022. "Patents, trade secrets and international technology transfer," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    2. Bar, Talia & Kalinowski, Jesse, 2019. "Patent validity and the timing of settlements," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Klein, Michael A, 2020. "Trade Secret Protection in a Developing Economy," MPRA Paper 103360, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Klein, Michael A., 2023. "Trade secret protection, multinational firms and international trade," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 325-342.

    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. Cristina Jude, 2016. "Technology Spillovers from FDI. Evidence on the Intensity of Different Spillover Channels," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(12), pages 1947-1973, December.
    2. Huu Thanh Tam Nguyen & Ngoc-Sang Pham, 2014. "Should the host economy invest in a new industry? The roles of FDI spillovers, development level and heterogeneity of firms," Post-Print halshs-01147485, HAL.
    3. Holger Görg & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2007. "Why Do Foreign Firms Pay More: The Role of On-the-Job-Training," Open Access publications 10197/8053, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    4. Holger Görg & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2016. "Why Do Foreign-Owned Firms Pay More? The Role of On-the-Job Training," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 3, pages 33-51, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Anwar, Sajid & Sun, Sizhong, 2014. "Heterogeneity and curvilinearity of FDI-related productivity spillovers in China's manufacturing sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 23-32.
    6. Dato, Simon & Grunewald, Andreas & Kräkel, Matthias & Müller, Daniel, 2016. "Asymmetric employer information, promotions, and the wage policy of firms," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 273-300.
    7. Fosfuri, Andrea, 2000. "Patent protection, imitation and the mode of technology transfer," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(7), pages 1129-1149, October.
    8. Nuno Crespo & Maria Paula Fontoura & Isabel Proença, 2009. "FDI spillovers at regional level: Evidence from Portugal," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(3), pages 591-607, August.
    9. Pol Antràs, 2003. "Firms, Contracts, and Trade Structure," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1375-1418.
    10. Pol Antràs & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2009. "Organizations and Trade," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 43-64, May.
    11. Bethuel Kinyanjui Kinuthia, 2017. "Export Spillovers: Comparative Evidence From Kenya and Malaysia," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 26(1), pages 24-51.
    12. Castillo, Victoria & Figal-Garone, Lucas & Maffioli, Alessandro & Rojo, Sofia & Stucchi, Rodolfo, 2016. "The Effects of Knowledge Spillovers through Labor Mobility," MPRA Paper 69141, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Nikolaj Malchow-Møller & James R. Markusen & Bertel Schjerning, 2013. "Foreign Firms, Domestic Wages," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 115(2), pages 292-325, April.
    14. Daniel F. Spulber, 1992. "Economic Analysis And Management Strategy: A Survey," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(3), pages 535-574, September.
    15. Markusen, James R. & Trofimenko, Natalia, 2009. "Teaching locals new tricks: Foreign experts as a channel of knowledge transfers," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 120-131, January.
    16. Geoffrey G. Gachino, 2014. "Foreign Investment and Technological Spillovers in Kenya: Extent and Mode of Occurrence," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 82(3), pages 422-442, September.
    17. repec:cte:wbrepe:wb022514 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Jed DeVaro & Antti Kauhanen & Nelli Valmari, 2019. "Internal and External Hiring," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(4), pages 981-1008, August.
    19. Valeria Gattai, 2010. "Firm's intangible assets and multinational activity: Full versus shared ownership," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 553-589.
    20. Pol Antràs, 2014. "Grossman–Hart (1986) Goes Global: Incomplete Contracts, Property Rights, and the International Organization of Production," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 30(suppl_1), pages 118-175.
    21. Markusen, James, 2005. "Modeling the Offshoring of White-Collar Services: From Comparative Advantage to the New Theories of Trade and FDI," CEPR Discussion Papers 5408, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    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:ecinqu:v:47:y:2009:i:4:p:726-738. 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/weaaaea.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.