Service characteristics and the choice between exports and FDI: Evidence from Belgian firms

Leo Sleuwaegen and Peter M. Smith

International Economics, 2021, vol. 168, issue C, 115-131

Abstract: The decision to serve foreign markets through exports or foreign direct investment (FDI) has been studied within proximity-concentration models of location, mainly in the context of trade in goods. This paper goes beyond this approach to account for the specific nature of services that are traded across borders in relation to market transaction costs. We show how services can be characterized by a bundle of attributes that collectively describe the service. These attributes are then tested to show how they affect the choice between exports and FDI using service-level data for firms in Belgium selling services abroad. Three different types of characteristic are shown to affect the export versus FDI decision: intangibility, the search-experience-credence framework and the requirement for either the supplier or the client to physically move to the point of production. Among other determinants, we find general and hard to evaluate complex services to be exported more than locally produced in foreign markets. The opposite holds for specialized (customized) and ‘experience’ services, or services that need close interaction with the buyer in their delivery.

Keywords: Services; International trade; Exports; Foreign direct investment; Service characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 F15 F23 L15 L80 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Service characteristics and the choice between exports and FDI: Evidence from Belgian firms (2021)
Working Paper: Service characteristics and the choice between exports and FDI: Evidence from Belgian firms (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:inteco:v:168:y:2021:i:c:p:115-131

DOI: 10.1016/j.inteco.2021.08.002

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