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Export Versus FDI in Services

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  • Rudrani Bhattacharya
  • Ila Patnaik
  • Ajay Shah

Abstract

In the literature on exports and investment, most productive firms are seen to invest abroad. In the Helpman et al. (2004) model, costs of transportation play a critical role in the decision about whether to serve foreign customers by exporting, or by producing abroad. We consider the case of tradable services, where the marginal cost of transport is near zero. We argue that in the purchase of services, buyers face uncertainty about product quality, especially when production is located far away. Firm optimisation then leads less productive firms to self-select themselves for FDI. We test this prediction with data from the Indian software industry, and find support for it.
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Suggested Citation

  • Rudrani Bhattacharya & Ila Patnaik & Ajay Shah, 2012. "Export Versus FDI in Services," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 61-78, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:35:y:2012:i:1:p:61-78
    DOI: j.1467-9701.2011.01385.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Andre Jungmittag, 2019. "Service trade restrictiveness and internationalisation of retail trade," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 293-333, April.
    2. Sleuwaegen, Leo & Smith, Peter M., 2021. "Service characteristics and the choice between exports and FDI: Evidence from Belgian firms," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 115-131.
    3. Filomena Pietrovito & Alberto Franco Pozzolo & Luca Salvatici, 2016. "Internationalization choices: an ordered probit analysis at industry level," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 561-594, March.
    4. Neil Foster-McGregor & Anders Isaksson & Florian Kaulich, 2015. "Importing, exporting and the productivity of services firms in Sub-Saharan Africa," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 499-522, June.
    5. Rouzet, Dorothée & Benz, Sebastian & Spinelli, Francesca, 2017. "Trading Firms and Trading Costs in Services: Firm-Level Analysis," Conference papers 332911, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    6. Joachim Wagner, 2014. "Exports, foreign direct investments and productivity: are services firms different?," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 24-37, January.
    7. Stefano Federico & Enrico Tosti, 2017. "Exporters and Importers of Services: Firm-Level Evidence on Italy," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(10), pages 2078-2096, October.
    8. Markus Kelle & Jörn Kleinert & Horst Raff & Farid Toubal, 2013. "Cross-border and Foreign Affiliate Sales of Services: Evidence from German Microdata," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(11), pages 1373-1392, November.
    9. Shao, Yanmin & Shang, Yan, 2016. "Decisions of OFDI Engagement and Location for Heterogeneous Multinational firms: Evidence from Chinese firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 178-187.
    10. Apoorva Gupta & Ila Patnaik & Ajay Shah, 2018. "Exporting and firm performance: evidence from India," Indian Growth and Development Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(1), pages 83-104, December.
    11. Paulo Júlio & Ricardo Pinheiro-Alves & José Tavares, 2011. "FDI and institutional reform in Portugal," GEE Papers 0040, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Sep 2011.
    12. Francesco Paolo Conteduca & Ekaterina Kazakova, 2018. "Serving Abroad: Export, M&A, and Greenfield Investment," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2018_008, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    13. Kiyoyasu Tanaka, 2015. "Firm Heterogeneity and FDI in Distribution Services," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(8), pages 1295-1311, August.
    14. Iza Lejárraga & Harald Oberhofer, 2015. "Performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises in services trade: evidence from French firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 673-702, October.
    15. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "International Trade and Firm Performance: A Survey of Empirical Studies since 2006," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 2, pages 43-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    16. Neil Foster-McGregor & Anders Isaksson & Florian Kaulich, 2014. "Outward Foreign Direct Investment, Exporting and Firm-Level Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 244-257, February.
    17. Alessandro Moro & Enrico Tosti, 2020. "The determinants of service export behaviour in Italian non-financial firms," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 577, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    18. Sarker, Bibhuti & Serieux, John, 2022. "Foreign-invested and domestic firm attributes and spillover effects: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

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