Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/22751 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
Dresden Discussion Paper Series in Economics No. 10/07
Publisher: 
Technische Universität Dresden, Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Dresden
Abstract: 
Over the last decade, German multinationals created about two million jobs abroad with increasing foreign direct investment (FDI). While there are many reasons for firms to go multinational and probably just as many for Germany's high unemployment, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between domestic labour costs and foreign direct investment. We apply a theoretical model for an econometric analysis examining the determinants of FDI using panel data of German firms' foreign capital stocks in 22 countries between 1994 and 2003. Estimating elasticities, we find that while domestic wages do not significantly influence total FDI by German firms, they positively affect the FDI stock in countries where cheap labour is abundant. Thus, although Germany's high labour costs are not the sole driver of foreign direct investment, they may accelerate the outsourcing of German jobs.
Subjects: 
Foreign direct investment
wages
trade
German multinational firms
JEL: 
F23
F21
F16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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