 Vertical FDI versus outsourcing: The role of technology transfer costsThe North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 2013, vol. 25, issue C, 1-21 Abstract: The effect of technology transfer cost on the choice between horizontal foreign direct investment (FDI) and licensing is well established. We explore this “make or buy” decision in the offshoring context when offshore input production involves costly technology transfer. The burden of technology transfer cost that falls on the sourcing firm depends not only on the technological complexity of the offshored input but also on the mode of organizing offshoring. Outsourcing entails low technology transmission cost but a higher distortion in input production by the arm's length supplier while vertical FDI involves a higher technology transmission cost but a lower distortion in input production by the affiliated supplier. Contrary to the existing literature, we find that, irrespective of the type of good, outsourcing is the preferred mode at higher ends of technological complexity. Keywords: Outsourcing; Foreign direct investment; Technology transfer; Relationship specific investment (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:25:y:2013:i:c:p:1-21 DOI: 10.1016/j.najef.2013.01.002 Access Statistics for this article The North American Journal of Economics and Finance is currently edited by Hamid Beladi More articles in The North American Journal of Economics and Finance from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.