The Effects of Overseas Operations on Home Employment of Japanese Multinational Enterprises

3/06/2008 -- Header
This paper examines the hypothesis that expansion of overseas operations of Japanese manufacturing multinational enterprises (MNEs) reduces home employment. While the existing studies are mainly based on the industry level, this paper presents the evidence using newly constructed firm-level panel data set over the period 1991-2002. In spite of concerns expressed about the adverse effects of FDI on the domestic economy, the evidence does not support the view that overseas operations expand at the cost of home employment in Japan. On the contrary, the findings suggest that overseas operations have somewhat helped to maintaining the level of home employment in Japanese manufacturing during the period under study. However, the results are sensitive to the estimation method used and whether the estimation is based on the panel data set is balanced or unbalanced.
21世紀COEプログラム = 21st-Century COE Program