Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/86666 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. 09-050/3
Publisher: 
Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam and Rotterdam
Abstract: 
To serve foreign markets, firms can either export or set up a local subsidiary through horizontal Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The conventional proximity-concentration theory suggests that FDI substitutes for trade if distance between countries is large, while exports become more important if scale economies in production are large. This paper investigates empirically the effect of different dimensions of distance on the choice between exports and FDI. We find that different dimensions of distance affect exports and FDI differently. There is clear evidence of a proximity-concentration trade-off in geographical terms: the share of FDI sales in total foreign sales (exports and FDI sales) increases with geographical distance. The positive relation between import tariffs and FDI intensity provides further evidence for a trade-off resulting from trade costs. On the other hand, the share of FDI decreases with language differences and cultural and institutional barriers. The latter dimensions of distance thus affect FDI more strongly than exports.
Subjects: 
cultural distance
institutions
FDI and trade
spatial interaction models
JEL: 
F14
F21
F23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
195.77 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.