What drives global product integration? An empirical update

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Berry, Heather; Kaul, Aseem
• 署名单位: Georgetown University; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2506
• DOI: 10.1057/s41267-023-00640-z
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 252-269
• 关键词: global product integration; Intra-firm trade; multinationals; TECHNOLOGY; scale; global knowledge; Offshore outsourcing; foreign competition; foreign rivals; DIGITIZATION

摘要

In this paper, we revisit the industry-level drivers of global product integration, i.e., cross-border product flows within multinationals. While traditional explanations for these flows have focused on benefits from R & D intensity and scale at the parent level, we examine a more comprehensive set of factors, incorporating recent theoretical advances as well as the changing nature of global competition, and considering both the level and direction of integration. Using comprehensive data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) over the 1999-2019 period, we argue and show that while factors that increase the returns to aggregation or decrease the returns to adaptation tend to raise the overall level of global product integration, factors that increase the returns to arbitrage have a directional impact, raising flows from foreign affiliates. Finally, we make available in this paper our industry-level data on intra-firm product integration, which we call the Global Product Integration Index (GPII), thus offering a valuable resource for future research.