IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/halshs-03265057.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

International Investment Agreements, Double-Taxation Treaties and Multinational Activity: The (Heterogeneous) Effects of Binding

Author

Listed:
  • Monika Sztajerowska

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

There are close to 3,000 international investment agreements (IIAs) that aim to protect and promote cross-border investment. Do they achieve their main purpose? This paper provides novel firm-level evidence on the effects of IIAs on location decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in a multi-country context. It uses unique micro-level data on the location of MNEs' affiliates globally and country-pair data on the coverage and content of treaties over a twenty-year period (1990-2010). It finds that IIAs, in particular those with the investor state dispute settlement (ISDS), increase the probability of MNEs' first foreign entry when they are accompanied by a double-taxation treaty. This interaction between investment and tax treaties can have important policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Monika Sztajerowska, 2021. "International Investment Agreements, Double-Taxation Treaties and Multinational Activity: The (Heterogeneous) Effects of Binding," Working Papers halshs-03265057, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03265057
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03265057
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03265057/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James R. Hines, 2010. "Treasure Islands," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(4), pages 103-126, Fall.
    2. Crozet, Matthieu & Mayer, Thierry & Mucchielli, Jean-Louis, 2004. "How do firms agglomerate? A study of FDI in France," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 27-54, January.
    3. Redding, Stephen J. & Turner, Matthew A., 2015. "Transportation Costs and the Spatial Organization of Economic Activity," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1339-1398, Elsevier.
    4. Nathan Nunn, 2007. "Relationship-Specificity, Incomplete Contracts, and the Pattern of Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 569-600.
    5. Emily J. Blanchard & Chad P. Bown & Robert C. Johnson, 2016. "Global Supply Chains and Trade Policy," NBER Working Papers 21883, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Fons-Rosen, Christian & Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem & Sørensen, Bent E. & Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina & Volosovych, Vadym, 2021. "Quantifying productivity gains from foreign investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Bruce A. Blonigen & Lindsay Oldenski & Nicholas Sly, 2019. "The Differential Effects of Bilateral Tax Treaties," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 7, pages 235-263, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4j5snkuat19kma9diah5p0g5eq is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang & Moore, Michael O., 2010. "Location decision of heterogeneous multinational firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 188-199, March.
    10. Egger, Peter & Pfaffermayr, Michael, 2004. "The impact of bilateral investment treaties on foreign direct investment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 788-804, December.
    11. Egger, Peter & Fahn, Matthias & Merlo, Valeria & Wamser, Georg, 2014. "On the genesis of multinational foreign affiliate networks," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 136-163.
    12. Konrad B Burchardi & Thomas Chaney & Tarek A Hassan, 2019. "Migrants, Ancestors, and Foreign Investments," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(4), pages 1448-1486.
    13. Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang & Joshi, Sumit, 2010. "Third-country effects on the formation of free trade agreements," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 238-248, November.
    14. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H. & Egger, Peter, 2013. "What determines BITs?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 107-122.
    15. Peter Egger & Mario Larch & Michael Pfaffermayr & Hannes Winner, 2006. "The impact of endogenous tax treaties on foreign direct investment: theory and evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(3), pages 901-931, August.
    16. Cathy Ge Bao & Maggie Xiaoyang Chen, 2018. "Foreign Rivals Are Coming to Town: Responding to the Threat of Foreign Multinational Entry," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 120-157, October.
    17. Ronald B. Davies & Pehr‐Johan Norbäck & Ayça Tekin‐Koru, 2009. "The Effect of Tax Treaties on Multinational Firms: New Evidence from Microdata," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 77-110, January.
    18. Peter Egger & Georg Wamser, 2013. "Multiple faces of preferential market access: their causes and consequences [Gravity with gravitas: a solution to the border puzzle]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 28(73), pages 143-187.
    19. Egger, Peter & Larch, Mario, 2008. "Interdependent preferential trade agreement memberships: An empirical analysis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 384-399, December.
    20. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen & Peter K. Schott, 2006. "Transfer Pricing by U.S.-Based Multinational Firms," NBER Working Papers 12493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Bernard, Andrew B. & Bradford Jensen, J., 1999. "Exceptional exporter performance: cause, effect, or both?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-25, February.
    22. Chen, Maggie X., 2009. "Regional economic integration and geographic concentration of multinational firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 355-375, April.
    23. Thomas Tørsløv & Ludvig Wier & Gabriel Zucman, 2023. "The Missing Profits of Nations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(3), pages 1499-1534.
    24. Berger, Axel & Busse, Matthias & Nunnenkamp, Peter & Roy, Martin, 2011. "More stringent BITs, less ambiguous effects on FDI? Not a bit!," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 112(3), pages 270-272, September.
    25. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    26. Crozet, Matthieu & Mayer, Thierry & Mucchielli, Jean-Louis, 2004. "How do firms agglomerate? A study of FDI in France," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 27-54, January.
    27. Bruce A. Blonigen & Ronald B. Davies, 2004. "The Effects of Bilateral Tax Treaties on U.S. FDI Activity," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 11(5), pages 601-622, September.
    28. Emma Aisbett & Matthias Busse & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2018. "Bilateral investment treaties as deterrents of host-country discretion: the impact of investor-state disputes on foreign direct investment in developing countries," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 154(1), pages 119-155, February.
    29. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Bent Sorensen & Carolina Villegas-Sanchez & Vadym Volosovych & Sevcan Yesiltas, 2015. "How to Construct Nationally Representative Firm Level Data from the Orbis Global Database: New Facts and Aggregate Implications," NBER Working Papers 21558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Stefania Garetto & Lindsay Oldenski & Natalia Ramondo, 2019. "Multinational Expansion in Time and Space," NBER Working Papers 25804, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Baier, Scott L. & Bergstrand, Jeffrey H., 2007. "Do free trade agreements actually increase members' international trade?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 72-95, March.
    32. Neumayer, Eric & Spess, Laura, 2005. "Do bilateral investment treaties increase foreign direct investment to developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1567-1585, October.
    33. Yeaple, Stephen Ross, 2009. "Firm heterogeneity and the structure of U.S. multinational activity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 206-215, July.
    34. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g8o118937 is not listed on IDEAS
    35. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g8o118937 is not listed on IDEAS
    36. Head, Keith & Ries, John & Swenson, Deborah, 1995. "Agglomeration benefits and location choice: Evidence from Japanese manufacturing investments in the United States," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 223-247, May.
    37. Ronald B. Davies, 2004. "Tax Treaties and Foreign Direct Investment: Potential versus Performance," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 11(6), pages 775-802, November.
    38. Conconi, Paola & Sapir, André & Zanardi, Maurizio, 2016. "The internationalization process of firms: From exports to FDI," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 16-30.
    39. Konrad Buchardi & Thomas Chaney & Tarek Hassan, 2019. "Migrants, Ancestors and Foreign Investments," Post-Print hal-03260191, HAL.
    40. Kohler, Wilhelm & Stähler, Frank, 2019. "The economics of investor protection: ISDS versus national treatment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    41. Baier, Scott L. & Bergstrand, Jeffrey H. & Feng, Michael, 2014. "Economic integration agreements and the margins of international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 339-350.
    42. Christian Bellak, 2015. "Economic Impact of Investment Agreements," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp200, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    43. Tristan Kohl & Steven Brakman & Harry Garretsen, 2016. "Do Trade Agreements Stimulate International Trade Differently? Evidence from 296 Trade Agreements," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 97-131, January.
    44. Allee, Todd & Peinhardt, Clint, 2011. "Contingent Credibility: The Impact of Investment Treaty Violations on Foreign Direct Investment," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(3), pages 401-432, July.
    45. Jennifer Tobin & Susan Rose-Ackerman, 2011. "When BITs have some bite: The political-economic environment for bilateral investment treaties," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-32, March.
    46. Axel Berger & Matthias Busse & Peter Nunnenkamp & Martin Roy, 2013. "Do trade and investment agreements lead to more FDI? Accounting for key provisions inside the black box," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 247-275, June.
    47. Juan Blyde & Alejandro Graziano & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2015. "Economic integration agreements and production fragmentation: evidence on the extensive margin," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(10), pages 835-842, July.
    48. Antrà s, Pol & Yeaple, Stephen R., 2014. "Multinational Firms and the Structure of International Trade," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 55-130, Elsevier.
    49. Peter Egger & Valeria Merlo, 2012. "BITs Bite: An Anatomy of the Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Multinational Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(4), pages 1240-1266, December.
    50. Mary Hallward-Driemeier, 2003. "Do bilateral investment treaties attract foreign direct investment? Only a bit - and they could bite," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3121, The World Bank.
    51. Konrad, Kai A., 2017. "Large investors, regulatory taking and investor-state dispute settlement," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 341-353.
    52. Sørensen, Bent E & Kalemli-Özcan, Sebnem & Volosovych, Vadym & Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina & Yesiltas, Sevcan, 2015. "How to construct nationally representative firm level data from the ORBIS global database," CEPR Discussion Papers 10829, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    53. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2010. "The worldwide governance indicators : methodology and analytical issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5430, The World Bank.
    54. James R. Markusen, 2001. "Commitment to Rules on Investment: The Developing Countries’ Stake," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 287-302, May.
    55. Laura Alfaro & Maggie Xiaoyang Chen, 2012. "Surviving the Global Financial Crisis: Foreign Ownership and Establishment Performance," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 30-55, August.
    56. Ralph Ossa & Robert W. Staiger & Alan O. Sykes, 2020. "Disputes in International Investment and Trade," NBER Working Papers 27012, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    57. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-338, May.
    58. Natalia Ramondo & Andrés Rodríguez-Clare & Felix Tintelnot, 2015. "Multinational Production: Data and Stylized Facts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 530-536, May.
    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. Monika Sztajerowska, 2021. "International Investment Agreements, Double-Taxation Treaties and Multinational Activity: The (Heterogeneous) Effects of Binding," PSE Working Papers halshs-03265057, HAL.
    2. Maria Borga & Perla Ibarlucea Flores & Monika Sztajerowska, 2020. "Drivers of divestment decisions of multinational enterprises - A cross-country firm-level perspective," OECD Working Papers on International Investment 2019/03, OECD Publishing.
    3. Jerónimo Carballo & Ignacio Marra de Artiñano & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2021. "Information Frictions, Investment Promotion, and Multinational Production: Firm-Level Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 9043, CESifo.
    4. Josef C. Brada & Zdenek Drabek & Ichiro Iwasaki, 2021. "Does Investor Protection Increase Foreign Direct Investment? A Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 34-70, February.
    5. Xiong, Tingting, 2022. "The Effect of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) on the extensive and intensive margins of exports," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 68-79.
    6. Laura Alfaro & Maggie Xiaoyang Chen, 2018. "Transportation cost and the geography of foreign investment," Chapters, in: Bruce A. Blonigen & Wesley W. Wilson (ed.), Handbook of International Trade and Transportation, chapter 12, pages 369-406, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Egger Peter & Wamser Georg, 2013. "Effects of the Endogenous Scope of Preferentialism on International Goods Trade," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 13(2), pages 709-731, July.
    8. Simon Hartmann & Rok Spruk, 2023. "The impact of unilateral BIT terminations on FDI: Quasi-experimental evidence from India," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 259-296, April.
    9. Aisbett, Emma & Busse, Matthias & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2016. "Bilateral investment treaties do work: Until they don't," Kiel Working Papers 2021, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Hyun-Hoon Lee & Donghyun Park, 2014. "Are Investment Promotion Agencies Effective in Promoting Outward Foreign Direct Investment? The Cases of Japan and Korea," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 28(2), pages 111-138, June.
    11. Emma Aisbett & Matthias Busse & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2018. "Bilateral investment treaties as deterrents of host-country discretion: the impact of investor-state disputes on foreign direct investment in developing countries," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 154(1), pages 119-155, February.
    12. Abdullah Kumas & Daniel L. Millimet, 2018. "Reassessing the effects of bilateral tax treaties on US FDI activity," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 42(3), pages 451-470, July.
    13. Frank Stähler, 2023. "An optimal investor-state dispute settlement mechanism," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 1-16, January.
    14. Nunnenkamp Peter, 2016. "Demokratie und internationale Investitionsabkommen: (Überraschende) Zusammenhänge und (lückenhafte) Erklärungen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 364-382, December.
    15. Arjan Lejour & Maria Salfi, 2015. "The Regional Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment," CPB Discussion Paper 298, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    16. Henk L. M. Kox & Hugo Rojas‐Romagosa, 2020. "How trade and investment agreements affect bilateral foreign direct investment: Results from a structural gravity model," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), December.
    17. Marta Bengoa & Blanca Sanchez-Robles & Yochanan Shachmurove, 2020. "Do Trade and Investment Agreements Promote Foreign Direct Investment within Latin America? Evidence from a Structural Gravity Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-32, October.
    18. Eichler, Stefan & Nauerth, Jannik André, 2024. "Bilateral investment treaties and portfolio investment," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    19. Arjan Lejour & Maria Salfi, 2015. "The Regional Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment," CPB Discussion Paper 298.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    20. Peter Egger & Alain Pirotte & Catharine Titi, 2023. "International investment agreements and foreign direct investment: A survey," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(6), pages 1524-1565, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Double Taxation Treaties; Bilateral Investment Agreements; Multinational Enterprises; Double Taxation Treaties Multinational Enterprises;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hal:wpaper:halshs-03265057. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.