Optimal Ownership and Firm Performance: An Analysis of China's FDI Liberalization

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Eppinger, Peter; Ma, Hong
• 署名单位: Carl von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; Tsinghua University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01431
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: FOREIGN DIRECT-INVESTMENT; vertical integration; Financial dependence; incomplete contracts; Policy Uncertainty; PROPERTY-RIGHTS; wto accession; PRODUCTIVITY; TRADE; input

摘要

theories of the firm posit that firm ownership is allocated to minimize contractual inefficiencies. Yet, it remains unclear how much the optimal ownership choice affects firm performance in practice. This paper provides a first quantification of the gains from optimal ownership within multinational firms by exploiting a major liberalization of China's policy restrictions on foreign ownership. The liberalization allowed previously restricted firms to become fully foreign-owned. We find that these reoptimized ownership choices raise firm output by 40% and productivity by 7.5% on average. An extended property-rights theory of the multinational firm rationalizes these effects and their heterogeneity.