IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/reviec/v32y2024i3p1434-1461.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of foreign direct investment in services on input imports of manufacturing firms: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Xuefeng Wang
  • Ling Zhu
  • Haiyun Liu

Abstract

This study investigates the causal effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in services on the input imports of manufacturing firms. We exploit a plausibly exogenous policy of FDI liberalization in services in China to construct an instrumental variable for FDI in services and address endogeneity concerns. The results demonstrate that FDI in services positively impacts both the value and sophistication of input imports for manufacturing firms. Mechanism analysis reveals that FDI in services enhances firms' input imports through reductions in production costs, relief from financial constraints, and decreased remote coordination costs. The positive effects of FDI in services are particularly pronounced for firms with lower initial productivity and higher levels of human capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuefeng Wang & Ling Zhu & Haiyun Liu, 2024. "Effects of foreign direct investment in services on input imports of manufacturing firms: Evidence from China," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 1434-1461, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:reviec:v:32:y:2024:i:3:p:1434-1461
    DOI: 10.1111/roie.12741
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12741
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/roie.12741?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. Arnold, Jens M. & Javorcik, Beata S. & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2011. "Does services liberalization benefit manufacturing firms?: Evidence from the Czech Republic," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 136-146, September.
    2. Bas, Maria & Paunov, Caroline, 2021. "Input quality and skills are complementary and increase output quality: Causal evidence from Ecuador’s trade liberalization," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    3. Bo Chen & Han Wang & Jishun Zhou, 2022. "Producer service foreign direct investment and pollution in China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(10), pages 3294-3311, October.
    4. Pol Antràs & Teresa C. Fort & Felix Tintelnot, 2017. "The Margins of Global Sourcing: Theory and Evidence from US Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(9), pages 2514-2564, September.
    5. Jens Matthias Arnold & Beata Javorcik & Molly Lipscomb & Aaditya Mattoo, 2016. "Services Reform and Manufacturing Performance: Evidence from India," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 1-39, February.
    6. Alan V. Deardorff, 2001. "International Provision of Trade Services, Trade, and Fragmentation," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 233-248, May.
    7. Gene M. Grossman & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2008. "Trading Tasks: A Simple Theory of Offshoring," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1978-1997, December.
    8. Woori Lee, 2019. "Services liberalization and global value chain participation: New evidence for heterogeneous effects by income level and provisions," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 888-915, August.
    9. Omar Bamieh & Francesco Bripi & Matteo Fiorini, 2022. "Services trade and labor market outcomes: Evidence from Italian firms," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 673-701, August.
    10. Feng, Ling & Li, Zhiyuan & Swenson, Deborah L., 2016. "The connection between imported intermediate inputs and exports: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 86-101.
    11. Ricardo Hausmann & Jason Hwang & Dani Rodrik, 2007. "What you export matters," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, March.
    12. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2012. "Creative accounting or creative destruction? Firm-level productivity growth in Chinese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-351.
    13. Fernandes, Ana M. & Paunov, Caroline, 2012. "Foreign direct investment in services and manufacturing productivity: Evidence for Chile," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 305-321.
    14. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Amit Kumar Khandelwal & Nina Pavcnik & Petia Topalova, 2010. "Imported Intermediate Inputs and Domestic Product Growth: Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(4), pages 1727-1767.
    15. Haiyun Liu & Xuefeng Wang, 2022. "Spillover Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Export Sophistication: Evidence from Chinese Domestic Manufacturing Firms," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(11), pages 2393-2408, November.
    16. Bernard Hoekman & Anirudh Shingal, 2020. "Aid for trade and international transactions in goods and services," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 320-340, May.
    17. Pinelopi Goldberg & Amit Khandelwal & Nina Pavcnik & Petia Topalova, 2009. "Trade Liberalization and New Imported Inputs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 494-500, May.
    18. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2003. "Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, March.
    19. Dongmin Kong & Chen Lin & Lai Wei & Jian Zhang, 2022. "Information Accessibility and Corporate Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 7837-7860, November.
    20. László Halpern & Miklós Koren & Adam Szeidl, 2015. "Imported Inputs and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(12), pages 3660-3703, December.
    21. Lakatos, Csilla & Fukui, Tani, 2014. "The Liberalization of Retail Services in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 327-340.
    22. Ivan T. Kandilov & Aslı Leblebicioğlu & Ruchita Manghnani, 2021. "Trade Liberalization and Investment in Foreign Capital Goods: A Look at the Intensive Margin," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(12), pages 3387-3410, September.
    23. Teresa C. Fort, 2017. "Technology and Production Fragmentation: Domestic versus Foreign Sourcing," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(2), pages 650-687.
    24. Bernard Hoekman & Ben Shepherd, 2017. "Services Productivity, Trade Policy and Manufacturing Exports," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 499-516, March.
    25. Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang & Zhu, Lianming, 2017. "Identifying FDI spillovers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 75-90.
    26. Ito, Banri & Yashiro, Naomitsu & Xu, Zhaoyuan & Chen, XiaoHong & Wakasugi, Ryuhei, 2012. "How do Chinese industries benefit from FDI spillovers?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 342-356.
    27. Simon Loertscher & Michael H. Riordan, 2019. "Make and Buy: Outsourcing, Vertical Integration, and Cost Reduction," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 105-123, February.
    28. Weibing Li & Kaixia Zhang, 2019. "Does Air Pollution Crowd Out Foreign Direct Investment Inflows? Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment in China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(4), pages 1387-1414, August.
    29. Miaojie Yu, 2015. "Processing Trade, Tariff Reductions and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Firms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(585), pages 943-988, June.
    30. Peng, Shuijun & Shu, Zhongqiao & Zhang, Wencheng, 2022. "Does service trade liberalization relieve manufacturing enterprises’ financial constraints? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    31. Michele Imbruno, 2022. "Export adjustment to input trade liberalization: The role of import wholesaling services," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 764-795, August.
    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. Wang, Xuefeng & Liu, Haiyun, 2023. "FDI in services and firm innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    2. Zhuoran Bai & Shuang Meng & Zhuang Miao & Yan Zhang, 2023. "Liberalization for services foreign direct investment and product mix adjustment: Evidence from Chinese exporting firms," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 363-388, May.
    3. Haichao Fan & Tuan Anh Luong & Edwin L‐C. Lai & Lina Zhang, 2022. "Import liberalization and export product mix," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(1), pages 419-457, February.
    4. Fan, Haichao & Li, Yao Amber & Yeaple, Stephen R., 2018. "On the relationship between quality and productivity: Evidence from China's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 28-49.
    5. Campbell, Jason, 2024. "The link between import sources and export success: Evidence from China," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    6. Zhengwen Liu & Hong Ma, 2021. "Input Trade Liberalization And Markup Distribution: Evidence From China," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(1), pages 344-360, January.
    7. Shi, Xiaojing & Zeng, Rui, 2024. "Do supply chain shocks affect technological sophistication of exporting? Evidence from China’s anti-dumping measures on intermediate products," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 314-332.
    8. Wen Yue, 2022. "Foreign direct investment and the innovation performance of local enterprises," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Chiara Criscuolo & Jonathan Timmis, 2017. "The Relationship Between Global Value Chains and Productivity," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 32, pages 61-83, Spring.
    10. Amiti, Mary & Dai, Mi & Feenstra, Robert & Romalis, John, 2017. "How Did China's WTO Entry Benefit U.S. Consumers?," CEPR Discussion Papers 12076, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Amiti, Mary & Dai, Mi & Feenstra, Robert C. & Romalis, John, 2020. "How did China's WTO entry affect U.S. prices?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    12. Deng, Lijing & Lu, Yue & Tang, Yao, 2024. "Does FDI increase product innovation of domestic firms? Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 1-24.
    13. Liu, Qing & Qiu, Larry D., 2016. "Intermediate input imports and innovations: Evidence from Chinese firms' patent filings," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 166-183.
    14. Lili Yan Ing & Wei Tian & Miaojie Yu, 2021. "Trade liberalisation and Chinese firm’s exports: Sourcing from Indonesia," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1795-1813, June.
    15. Handley, Kyle & Limão, Nuno & Ludema, Rodney D. & Yu, Zhi, 2024. "Firm input choice under trade policy uncertainty," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    16. Sai Ding & Puyang Sun & Wei Jiang, 2019. "The Effect of Foreign Entry Regulation on Downstream Productivity: Microeconomic Evidence from China," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(3), pages 925-959, July.
    17. Sèna K. Gnangnon, 2021. "Aid for Trade and services export diversification in recipient countries," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 189-225, June.
    18. Huang, Geng & Lin, Xi & He, Ling-Yun, 2023. "Good for the environment? Foreign investment opening in service sector and firm's energy efficiency," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    19. Pol Antràs & Davin Chor, 2021. "Global Value Chains," NBER Working Papers 28549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Xuchao Li & Jing Zhao & Ruomeng Yang, 2024. "Service liberalization and productivity in high‐tech firms: Evidence from China," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 1607-1644, September.

    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:reviec:v:32:y:2024:i:3:p:1434-1461. 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.