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Relocation and investment in R&D by firms

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  • Juan Bárcena-Ruiz
  • María Garzón

Abstract

The literature on foreign direct investment has analyzed corporate location decisions when firms invest in R&D to reduce production costs. Such firms may set up new plants in other developed countries while maintaining their domestic plants. In contrast, we here consider firms that close down their domestic operations and relocate to countries where wage costs are lower. Thus, we assume that firms may reduce their production costs by investing in R&D and likewise by moving their plants abroad. We show that these two mechanisms are complementary. When a firm relocates it invests more in R&D than when it does not change its location and, therefore, its production cost is lower in the first case. As a result, investment in R&D encourages firms to relocate. Copyright ISEG 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Bárcena-Ruiz & María Garzón, 2014. "Relocation and investment in R&D by firms," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 13(1), pages 25-38, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:portec:v:13:y:2014:i:1:p:25-38
    DOI: 10.1007/s10258-014-0096-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Relocation; R&D; Social welfare; Imperfect competition; D6; F16; J51; L13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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