【主题】Quantifying Adaption Costs in Sequential FDI Location Choices: Evidence from German Firms

【报告人】朱爱勇，2014年获得德国曼汉姆大学经济学博士，现任武汉大学经济与贸易学院经济系助理教授，研究兴趣包括产业组织实证研究、应用微观经济学和国际贸易，研究成果发表于Urban Studies, The Annals of Regional Science, China and World Economy等国际期刊。

【时间】3月18日（星期三）下午3:30-5:00

【地点】国际经济与贸易学院会议室（中财大厦1032室）

【论文摘要】When engaging in foreign direct investment (FDI) for the first time, multinational firms often incur large costs. They have to adapt to different business practices, ethical norms and regulations in a new country. Therefore, prior investment experience in a location can influence firms’ FDI decisions in subsequent periods, since firms do not need to pay the adaptation costs if they invest in the same location again. In this context, I develop a structural dynamic model of how firms make sequential decisions of where to invest. Using data on German firms’ FDI from 2002 to 2009, I estimate the model allowing for country-specific adaptation costs and firms’ heterogeneous preference towards location attributes. Estimation results suggest that adaptation costs are statistically and economically significant, ranging from 1.7% − 34.3% of the average expected discounted profit of a firm. If adaptation costs were subsidized completely, I find that firms’ FDI location choices would change dramatically. In addition, the average expected discounted profit would increase by 20.6%, not only due to the reduction of adaptation costs, but more importantly, due to a better matching between firms and locations.

[编辑]：孙颖