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Foreign Direct Investment and Labor Quality in Developing Countries
Author(s) -
Iwai Nobuyuki,
Thompson Stanley R.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
review of development economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1467-9361
pISSN - 1363-6669
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9361.2012.00661.x
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , foreign direct investment , developing country , incentive , quality (philosophy) , economics , labour economics , business , profit (economics) , revenue , tax revenue , market economy , economic growth , public economics , finance , macroeconomics , philosophy , epistemology , microeconomics
The quality of local labor is an important factor in a multinational corporation's (MNC) decision to set up production operations in a developing country. It is often observed that developing country governments attempt to attract MNCs by enhancing labor quality. This paper studies the interaction between an MNC and a local government which has superior information on local labor quality. The local government has an incentive to enhance the labor quality and share that information with the MNC because it increases both its net tax revenue and profit of the MNC. The paper provides an explanation for recent findings of FDI in developing countries: the bulk of FDI has been directed toward a limited number of countries and human capital plays an increasingly important role in attracting FDI.