IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/reviec/v15y2007i3p462-480.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Domestic Labor Markets and Foreign Direct Investment

Author

Listed:
  • Jan I. Haaland
  • Ian Wooton

Abstract

We study how the labor market and industry uncertainty affect the investment decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs). In an uncertain business climate, MNEs must take account of the future in deciding where to locate a branch plant. When wages are endogenously determined, both the opportunity cost of labor and redundancy payments influence the MNE’s decision. When countries compete for foreign investment, different national characteristics determine the winners in different industries. Differences in risk may draw MNEs to different locations. Firm‐specific bargaining always offers an advantage, as the mix of current and future pay fully reflects the firm’s risk profile.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan I. Haaland & Ian Wooton, 2007. "Domestic Labor Markets and Foreign Direct Investment," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 462-480, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:reviec:v:15:y:2007:i:3:p:462-480
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9396.2007.00687.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9396.2007.00687.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9396.2007.00687.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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan E. Haskel & Sonia C. Pereira & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2007. "Does Inward Foreign Direct Investment Boost the Productivity of Domestic Firms?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(3), pages 482-496, August.
    2. Haaland, Jan I. & Wooton, Ian, 2002. "Multinational Investment, Industry Risk and Policy Competition," CEPR Discussion Papers 3152, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Jan I. Haaland & Ian Wooton & Giulia Faggio, 2002. "Multinational Firms: Easy Come, Easy Go?," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 59(1), pages 3-26, February.
    4. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Odd Rune Straume & Lars Sørgard, 2006. "National versus international mergers in unionized oligopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(1), pages 212-233, March.
    5. repec:bla:scandj:v:101:y:1999:i:4:p:631-49 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Pedro P. Barros & Luís Cabral, 2000. "Competing for Foreign Direct Investment," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(2), pages 360-371, May.
    7. Haufler, Andreas & Wooton, Ian, 1999. "Country size and tax competition for foreign direct investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 121-139, January.
    8. Markusen, James R. & Venables, Anthony J., 1999. "Foreign direct investment as a catalyst for industrial development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 335-356, February.
    9. Saint-Paul, Gilles, 2002. "Employment protection, international specialization, and innovation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 375-395, February.
    10. Kind, Hans Jarle & Knarvik, Karen Helene Midelfart & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2000. "Competing for capital in a 'lumpy' world," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(3), pages 253-274, November.
    11. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Frode Meland & Lars S¯rgard, 2003. "Unionised Oligopoly, Trade Liberalisation and Location Choice," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(490), pages 782-800, October.
    12. Fumagalli, Chiara, 2003. "On the welfare effects of competition for foreign direct investments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 963-983, December.
    13. Sebastian G. Kessing, 2006. "Employment Protection and Product Market Competition," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 108(2), pages 339-352, July.
    14. Devereux, Michael P. & Griffith, Rachel, 1998. "Taxes and the location of production: evidence from a panel of US multinationals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 335-367, June.
    15. Jan I. Haaland & Ian Wooton, 1999. "International Competition for Multinational Investment," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(4), pages 631-649, December.
    16. Edward P. Lazear, 1990. "Job Security Provisions and Employment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(3), pages 699-726.
    17. Samuel Bentolila & Giuseppe Bertola, 1990. "Firing Costs and Labour Demand: How Bad is Eurosclerosis?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 57(3), pages 381-402.
    18. repec:bla:reviec:v:8:y:2000:i:2:p:360-71 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Gerda Dewit & Dermot Leahy & Catia Montagna, 2003. "Employment protection and globalisation in dynamic oligopoly," Economics Department Working Paper Series n1200103, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    20. Saint-Paul, Gilles, 1997. "Is labour rigidity harming Europe's competitiveness? The effect of job protection on the pattern of trade and welfare," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 499-506, April.
    21. Pissarides, Christopher A., 2001. "Employment protection," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 131-159, May.
    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. Céline Azémar & Rodolphe Desbordes, 2010. "Short‐run Strategies for Attracting Foreign Direct Investment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7), pages 928-957, July.
    2. Alejandro Cuñat & Marc J. Melitz, 2012. "Volatility, Labor Market Flexibility, And The Pattern Of Comparative Advantage," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 225-254, April.
    3. Carluccio, Juan & Bas, Maria, 2015. "The impact of worker bargaining power on the organization of global firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 162-181.
    4. Maria Bas & Juan Carluccio, 2009. "Wage Bargaining and the Boundaries of the Multinational Firm," CEP Discussion Papers dp0963, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Burcu ŞENALP, 2018. "Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Growth and Economic Freedom: A Literature Survey," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 68(2), pages 301-336, December.
    6. Simone Moriconi & Pierre M. Picard & Skerdilajda Zanaj, 2019. "Commodity taxation and regulatory competition," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(4), pages 919-965, August.
    7. Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Meland, Frode & Rune Straume, Odd, 2006. "Globalisation and union opposition to technological change," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 1-23, January.
    8. Alamá-Sabater, Luisa & Heid, Benedikt & Jiménez-Fernández, Eduardo & Márquez-Ramos, Laura, 2016. "What drives interdependence of FDI among host countries? The role of geographic proximity and similarity in public debt," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 466-474.
    9. Geleilate, José-Mauricio G. & Magnusson, Peter & Parente, Ronaldo C. & Alvarado-Vargas, Marcelo J., 2016. "Home Country Institutional Effects on the Multinationality–Performance Relationship: A Comparison Between Emerging and Developed Market Multinationals," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 380-402.
    10. Rachel Griffith & Gareth Macartney, 2014. "Employment Protection Legislation, Multinational Firms, and Innovation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(1), pages 135-150, March.
    11. Rita K. Almeida & Z. Bilgen Susanlı, 2012. "Firing Regulations and Firm Size in the Developing World: Evidence from Differential Enforcement," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 540-558, November.
    12. Zierahn, Ulrich, 2011. "Regional unemployment and new economic geography," HWWI Research Papers 105, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    13. Ivan T. Kandilov & Mine Z. Senses, 2016. "The effects of wrongful discharge protection on foreign multinationals: Evidence from transaction‐level data," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(1), pages 111-146, February.
    14. Vincent Delbecque & Isabelle Méjean & Lise Patureau, 2014. "Labor market institutions and firms’ location choices," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(1), pages 115-148, February.
    15. Méjean, Isabelle & Patureau, Lise, 2010. "Firms' location decisions and minimum wages," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 45-59, January.
    16. Kluge, Jan & Lappoehn, Sarah & Plank, Kerstin, 2020. "The Determinants of Economic Competitiveness," IHS Working Paper Series 24, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    17. Duanmu, Jing-Lin, 2014. "A race to lower standards? Labor standards and location choice of outward FDI from the BRIC countries," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 620-634.

    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. Haaland, Jan I. & Wooton, Ian, 2002. "Multinational Investment, Industry Risk and Policy Competition," CEPR Discussion Papers 3152, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Görg, Holger, 2002. "Fancy a Stay at the 'Hotel California'? Foreign Direct Investment, Taxation and Firing Costs," IZA Discussion Papers 665, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Jan I. Haaland & Ian Wooton & Giulia Faggio, 2002. "Multinational Firms: Easy Come, Easy Go?," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 59(1), pages 3-26, February.
    4. C. Dembour, 2008. "Competition for Business Location: A Survey," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 89-111, June.
    5. Holger Görg, 2003. "Foreign direct investment, investment incentives, and firing costs: A disadvantage for "inflexible Europe"?," European Economy Group Working Papers 30, European Economy Group.
    6. Gross, Dominique M. & Ryan, Michael, 2008. "FDI location and size: Does employment protection legislation matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 590-605, November.
    7. Haufler, Andreas & Wooton, Ian, 2001. "Regional tax coordination and foreign direct investment," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 14, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    8. Haufler, Andreas & Wooton, Ian, 2006. "The effects of regional tax and subsidy coordination on foreign direct investment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 285-305, February.
    9. Bjorvatn, Kjetil & Eckel, Carsten, 2006. "Policy competition for foreign direct investment between asymmetric countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(7), pages 1891-1907, October.
    10. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Odd Rune Straume, 2012. "Employment Protection Versus Flexicurity: On Technology Adoption in Unionised Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(1), pages 177-199, March.
    11. O. Amerighi & G. De Feo, 2007. "Competition for FDI in the Presence of a Public Firm and the Effects of Privatization," Working Papers 605, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    12. Schmitz, Patrick W., 2004. "Job protection laws and agency problems under asymmetric information," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 1027-1046, October.
    13. Gerda Dewit & Holger Görg & Catia Montagna, 2009. "Should I stay or should I go? Foreign direct investment, employment protection and domestic anchorage," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(1), pages 93-110, April.
    14. Ying, Qianwei & Yang, Quanfa, 2007. "The role of information in the competition for FDI under uncertainty," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 62-70, June.
    15. Chor, Davin, 2009. "Subsidies for FDI: Implications from a model with heterogeneous firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 113-125, June.
    16. Dewit, G. & Holger, G. & Montagna, C., 2003. "Should I stay or should I go? A note on employment protection, domestic anchorage, and FDI," Economics Department Working Paper Series n1291003, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    17. Martin Robson & Roxana Radulescu, 2004. "Does stricter employment protection legislation deter FDI?," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2003 81, Money Macro and Finance Research Group.
    18. Mittermaier, Ferdinand & Rincke, Johannes, 2013. "Do countries compensate firms for international wage differentials?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 23-36.
    19. Isabel Faeth, 2009. "Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment – A Tale Of Nine Theoretical Models," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 165-196, February.
    20. Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2005. "The consequences of labor market flexibility: Panel evidence based on survey data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 1225-1259, July.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

    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:reviec:v:15:y:2007:i:3:p:462-480. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0965-7576 .

    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.