The papers listed below report results from research by academic economists who were granted access to BEA's business confidential data on multinational firms and cross-border trade in services as nonpaid special sworn research consultants of the Bureau. The papers are listed in reverse chronological order under the following two categories: (i) published papers (including papers that are forthcoming in identified publications) and (ii) unpublished papers issued under an institutional working paper series.
The views expressed in these papers are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis or the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Published Papers
Foreign Investment of U.S. multinationals: The Effect of Tax Policy and Agency Conflicts
Journal of Financial Economics (available online June 2021), (in press, corrected proof)
The New Global Innovation Machine: A Look Inside the R&D Networks of U.S. Multinationals
In C. Fritz Foley, James Hines, and David Wessel, eds., Global Goliaths: Multinational Corporations in the 21st Century, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, Spring 2021, 299-336
Do Multinational Firms Export Jobs?
In C. Fritz Foley, James Hines, and David Wessel, eds., Global Goliaths: Multinational Corporations in the 21st Century, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, Spring 2021, 227-356
The Labor Market Effects of Offshoring by U.S. Multinational Firms
Review of Economic and Statistics 103, no. 2 (May 2021): 381-396
How Important is Regional vs. Global Scope? An Examination of U.S. Multinationals
Journal of International Business Studies 51, no. 7 (September 2020): 1142-1160
Internationalizing firm innovations: The influence of multimarket overlap in knowledge activities
Journal of International Business Studies 51, no. 6 (August 2020): 963-985
Innovation in the Global Firm
Journal of Political Economy 128, no. 4 (April 2020): 1566-1625
Understanding the Rise in Corporate Cash: Precautionary Saving or Foreign Taxes
The Review of Financial Studies 32, no. 9 (September 2019): 3299–3334
Made in the USA? A Study of Firm Responses to Domestic Production Incentives
Journal of Accounting Research 57, no. 4 (September 2019): 1059-1114
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Asymmetric Taxes, Risk Taking, and Innovation
Journal of Monetary Economics 105 (August 2019): 24-40
Host-Country Financial Development and Multinational Activity
European Economic Review 115 (June 2019): 192-220
Misaccounting for Endogeneity: The Peril of Relying on the Heckman Two-Step Method without a Valid Instrument
Strategic Management Journal 40, no. 3 (March 2019): 432-462
The IT Revolution and the Globalization of R&D
In Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, eds., Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 19, Chicago: NBER and University of Chicago Press, 2018, 1-37
The Influence of Multiple Knowledge Networks on Innovation in Foreign Operations
Organization Science 29, no. 5 (September-October 2018): 855-872
Innovation and Production in the Global Economy
American Economic Review 108, no. 8 (August 2018): 2128-2173
Conflicting Transfer Pricing Incentives and the Role of Coordination
Contemporary Accounting Research 35, no. 1 (Spring 2018): 87-116
Market Power and Patent Rights
In UNCTAD, ed., Trade and Development Report 2017, Chapter 6, Geneva: United Nations, 2017, 119-145
Patent Protection and the Composition of Multinational Activity: Evidence from U.S. Multinational Firms
Journal of International Business Studies 48, no. 7 (September 2017): 808-836
Managing Valuable Knowledge in Weak IP Protection Countries
Journal of International Business Studies 48, no. 7 (September 2017): 787-807
The International Configurations of US Multinational Corporations
In Juan Alcacer, Bruce Kogut, Catherine Thomas, and Bernard Yin Yeung, eds., Advances in Strategic Management: Geography, Location and Strategy, Volume 36, New York: Springer, 2017, 9-48
The Distributional Consequences of Preferential Trade Liberalization: Firm-level Evidence
International Organization 71, no. 2 (Spring 2017): 373-395
Replicating the Multinationality-Performance Relationship: Is There an S-Curve?
Strategic Management Journal 37, no. 11 (November 2016): 2275-2290
Taxes and Leverage at Multinational Corporations
Journal of Financial Economics 122, no. 1 (October 2016): 1-20
Intellectual Property Protection and the Industrial Composition of Multinational Activity
Economic Inquiry 54, no. 2 (April 2016): 1068-1085
Trade Credit and Taxes
Review of Economics and Statistics 98, no. 1 (March 2016): 132-139
Intrafirm Trade and Vertical Fragmentation in U.S. Multinational Corporations
Journal of International Economics 98, no. 1 (January 2016): 51-59
The Influence of Firm Global Supply Chains and Foreign Currency Undervaluations on U.S. Trade Disputes
International Organization 69, no. 4 (Fall 2015): 913-947
U.S. Multinationals and Preferential Market Access
Review of Economics and Statistics 97, no. 4 (October 2015): 839-854
Knowledge Inheritance in Global Industries: The Impact of Parent Firm Knowledge on the Performance of Foreign Subsidiaries
Academy of Management Journal 58, no. 5 (October 2015): 1438-1458
Diversification, Cost Structure, and the Risk Premium of Multinational Corporations
Journal of International Economics 96, no. 1 (May 2015): 37-54
Global Sourcing and Foreign Knowledge Seeking
Management Science 61, no. 5 (May 2015): 1052-1071
The Effect of Repatriation Tax Costs on U.S. Multinational Investment
Journal of Financial Economics 116, no. 1 (April 2015): 179-196
There will be Exports and Licensing: The Effects of Patent Rights and Innovation on Firm Sales
Journal of International Trade and Economic Development 23, no. 8 (2014): 1112-1144
Estimating the Impact of Trade and Offshoring on American Workers Using Current Population Surveys
Review of Economics and Statistics 96, no. 4 (October 2014): 581-595
Multinational Firms and the Structure of International Trade
In Gita Gopinath, Elhanan Helpman, and Kenneth Rogoff, eds., Handbook of International Economics Volume 4, Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2014, 55-130
Patent Laws, Product Lifecycle Lengths, and Multinational Activity
American Economic Review 104, no. 7 (July 2014): 1979-2013
Global Integration and Innovation: Multi-Country Knowledge Generation within MNCs
Strategic Management Journal 35, no. 6 (June 2014): 869-890
The Differential Effects of Bilateral Tax Treaties
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 6, no. 2 (May 2014): 1-18
Offshoring and the Polarization of the U.S. Labor Market
Industrial and Labor Relations Review 67 (May 2014)
Location of Decision Rights Within Multinational Firms
Journal of Accounting Research 51, no. 5 (December 2013): 1261-1297
Domestic Institutions and the Taxing of Multinational Corporations
International Studies Quarterly 57, no. 3 (September 2013): 440-448
The Proximity-Concentration Tradeoff under Uncertainty
Review of Economic Studies 80, no. 41 (October 2013): 1582-1621
Ethnic Innovation and U.S. Multinational Firm Activity
Management Science 59, no. 7 (July 2013): 1529-1544
Offshoring, Wages, and Employment: Theory and Evidence
European Economic Review 62 (August 2013): 73-97
The Gravity of Knowledge
American Economic Review 103, no. 4 (June 2013): 1414-1444
When Do Firms Divest Foreign Operations?
Organization Science 24, no. 1 (January-February 2013): 246-261
The Task Composition of Offshoring by U.S. Multinationals
International Economics No. 131 (Q3 2012): 5-21
Egalitarianism, Cultural Distance, and Foreign Direct Investment: A New Approach
Organization Science 24, no. 4 (July-August 2013)
Is U.S. Multinational Dividend Repatriation Policy Influenced by Reporting Incentives?
The Accounting Review 87, no. 5 (September 2012): 1463-1491
Export Versus FDI and the Communication of Complex Information
Journal of International Economics 87, no. 2 (July 2012): 312-322
North-South Models of Intellectual Property Rights: An Empirical Critique
Review of World Economics 148, no. 1 (April 2012): 151-180
Offshoring Jobs? Multinationals and U.S. Manufacturing Employment
Review of Economics and Statistics 93, no. 3 (August 2011): 857-875
Watch What I Do, Not What I Say: The Unintended Consequences of the Homeland Investment Act
Journal of Finance 66, no. 3 (June 2011): 753-787
Regional Trade Integration and Multinational Firm Strategies
In Robert J. Barro and Jong-Wha Lee, ed., Costs and Benefits of Regional Economic Integration, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011, 208-240
Does Intellectual Property Rights Reform Spur Industrial Development?
Journal of International Economics 83, no. 1 (January 2011): 27-36
U.S. Environmental Regulation and FDI: Evidence from a Panel of U.S. Based Multinational Firms
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2, no. 3 (July 2010): 158-89
Facts and Fallacies about U.S. FDI in China
In Robert C. Feenstra and Shang-Jin Wei, ed., China's Growing Role in World Trade, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010, 513-539
Multinational Enterprises, International Trade, and Productivity Growth: Firm-Level Evidence from the United States
Review of Economics and Statistics 91, no. 4 (November 2009): 821-831
Multinational Firms, FDI Flows and Imperfect Capital Markets
Quarterly Journal of Economics 124, no. 3 (August 2009): 1171-1219
Tariff Effects on MNC Decisions to Engage in Intra-firm and Arms-length Trade
Canadian Journal of Economics 42, no. 3 (August 2009): 900-929
Measuring Network Effects on Trade: A Reexamination
Japan and the World Economy 21, no. 3 (August 2009): 219-225
Firm Heterogeneity and the Structure of U.S. Multinational Activity
Journal of International Economics 78, no. 2 (July 2009): 206-212
MNC Subsidiaries and Country Risk: Internalization as a Safeguard Against Weak External Institutions
Academy of Management Journal 52, no. 2 (April 2009): 381-399
Domestic Effects of the Foreign Activities of US Multinationals
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 1, no. 1 (February 2009): 181-203
Factor Prices, Factor Substitution and Exporting in US Manufacturing Affiliates Abroad
The World Economy 32, issue 1 (January 2009): 30-48
Firm Heterogeneity, Central Locations, and the Structure of Foreign Direct Investment
In Elhanan Helpman, Dalia Marin, and Thierry Verdier, eds., The Organization of Firms in a Global Economy, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008, 200-230
Profit Sharing Between Governments and Multinationals in Natural Resource Extraction: Evidence From a Firm-Level Panel
in Susan Collins, ed., Brookings Trade Forum 2007, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2008, 149-175
Financial Constraints and Growth: Multinational and Local Firm Responses to Currency Depreciations
Review of Financial Studies 21, no. 6 (November 2008): 2857-2888
Capital Structure with Risky Foreign Investment
Journal of Financial Economics 88, no. 3 (June 2008): 534-553
An Assignment Theory of Foreign Direct Investment
Review of Economic Studies 75, no. 2 (April 2008): 529-557
Advances in Logistics and the Growth of Intra-firm Trade: The Case of Canadian Affiliates of U.S. Multinationals, 1984-1995
Journal of Industrial Economics 55, no. 4 (December 2007): 571-632
Why Do Firms Hold So Much Cash? A Tax-Based Explanation
Journal of Financial Economics 86, no. 3 (December 2007): 579-607
Dividend Policy Inside the Multinational Firm
Financial Management 36, no. 1 (Spring 2007): 5-26
US Multinational Activity Abroad and US Jobs: Substitutes or Complements?
Industrial Relations 46, no. 2 (April 2007): 347-365
The Comovement of Returns and Investment Within the Multinational Firm
In Richard H. Clarida, Jeffrey A. Frankel, Fancesco Giavazzi, and Kenneth D. West, eds., NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2004, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006, 197-230
Dispelling Some Myths about Offshoring
Academy of Management Perspectives 20, no. 4 (2006): 6-22
Accounting for the Growth of MNC-based Trade using a Structural Model of U.S. MNCs
American Economic Review 96, no. 5 (December 2006): 1515-1558
Capital Controls, Liberalizations, and Foreign Direct Investment
Review of Financial Studies 19, no. 4 (Winter 2006): 1399-1431
Offshoring, Foreign Direct Investment, and the Structure of U.S. Trade
Journal of the European Economic Association (Papers and Proceedings) 4, no. 2-3 (April-May 2006): 602-611
The Demand for Tax Haven Operations
Journal of Public Economics 90, no. 3 (February 2006): 513-531
Do Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Increase International Technology Transfer? Empirical Evidence from U.S. Firm-Level Panel Data
Quarterly Journal of Economics 121, no. 1 (February 2006): 321-349
The Intra-Firm Trade of U.S. MNCs: Findings and Implications for Models and Policy
In M. Blomstrom, E. Graham, and T. Moran, eds., The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Development: New Measures, New Outcomes, New Policy Approaches, Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics, 2005, 245-271
Vertical Production Networks in Multinational Firms
Review of Economics and Statistics 87, no. 4 (November 2005): 664-678
International Licensing and the Strengthening of Intellectual Property Rights in Developing Countries During the 1990s
OECD Economic Studies 2005, no. 1 (November 2005): 9-52
A Multinational Perspective on Capital Structure Choice and Internal Capital Markets
Journal of Finance 59, no. 6 (December 2004): 2451-2488
Foreign Direct Investment in a World of Multiple Taxes
Journal of Public Economics 88, no. 12 (December 2004): 2727-2744
Knowledge Spillovers and the Assignment of R&D Responsibilities to Foreign Subsidiaries
Strategic Management Journal 25, no. 8-9 (August-September, 2004): 823-845
The Costs of Shared Ownership: Evidence From International Joint Ventures
Journal of Financial Economics 73, no. 2 (August 2004): 323-374
Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms
American Economic Review 94, no. 1 (March 2004): 300-316
Chains of Ownership, Regional Tax Competition, and Foreign Direct Investment
In Heinz Herrmann and Robert Lipsey, eds., Foreign Direct Investment in the Real and Financial Sector of Industrial Countries, Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer Verlag, 2003, 61-98
The Role of Skill Endowments in the Structure of U.S. Outward Foreign Direct Investment
Review of Economics and Statistics 85, no. 3 (August 2003): 726-734
Expansion Strategies of U.S. Multinational Firms
In Dani Rodrik and Susan Collins, ed., Brookings Trade Forum 2001, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2001, 245-294
Are U.S. Multinationals Exporting U.S. Jobs?
In David Greenaway and Douglas Nelson, ed., Globalization and Labour Markets, Volume 2, Cheltenham, UK: Elgar, 2001, 410-26
Repatriation Taxes and Dividend Distortions
National Tax Journal 54, no. 4 (December 2001): 829-851
U.S.-Canada Trade Liberalization and MNC Production Location
Review of Economics and Statistics 83, no. 1 (February 2001): 118-132
Do World Product Mandates Really Matter?
Journal of International Business Studies 31, no. 1 (First Quarter 2000): 155-167
Trade Liberalization and 'Delocalization': New Evidence from Firm-Level Panel Data
Canadian Journal of Economics 31, no. 4 (October 1998): 749-777
An Empirical Assessment of the Proximity-Concentration Trade-off Between Multinational Sales and Trade
American Economic Review 87, no. 4 (September 1997): 520-544
U.S. and Swedish Direct Investment and Exports
In Robert E. Baldwin, ed., Trade Policy Issues and Empirical Analysis, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988, 257-302
Working Papers
How Do Restrictions on High-Skilled Immigration Affect Offshoring? Evidence from the H-1B Program
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 27538 (July 2020)
Multinational Expansion in Time and Space
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 25804 (May 2019)
Multinational Profit Shifting and Measures throughout Economic Accounts
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 24915 (August 2018)
Knowledge Transfer Abroad: The Role of U.S. Inventors within Global R&D Networks
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 24453 (March 2018)
Offshore Profit Shifting and Domestic Productivity Measurement
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 23324 (April 2017)
Scale, Scope, and the International Expansion Strategies of Multiproduct Firms
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 19166 (June 2013)
Global Production and Trade in the Knowledge Economy
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 14626 (December 2008)
Firm Heterogeneity and Weak Intellectual Property Rights
International Monetary Fund Working Paper No. 07/161 (July 2007)
Firm-Specific Resources, Financial-Market Development and the Growth of U.S. Multinationals
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 9252 (October 2002)
U.S. Multinationals and Competition from Low Wage Countries
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 5959 (March 1997)