Multinationals, technology, and the introduction of varieties of goods

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Brambilla, Irene
• 署名单位: Yale University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2009.06.004
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 89-101
• 关键词: foreign direct investment; multiproduct firms; firm heterogeneity; CHINA

摘要

Multiproduct firms and product turnover are widespread phenomena. This paper develops a theoretical framework that links advantages in R&D and variable costs with firm's ability to expand its portfolio of products. The framework is then applied to explain systematic differences in product introduction by affiliates of multinationals and firms that only operate domestically. Using firm-level data for the Chinese manufacturing sector during 1998-2000, I compare the performance of foreign and domestic firms in terms of the new varieties that they introduce and I estimate the quantitative relevance of technological factors as a determinant. I find that firms with more than 50% of foreign ownership introduce on average more than twice as many more new varieties of goods as private domestic firms. Advantages in productivity account for 32 to 62% of the difference in the number and sales of new varieties, while advantages in the cost of development account for 3 to 6% of these differences. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.